ten
o'clock
Silvia opened her eyes and made the little horizontal motion with her forefinger which in Italy means no . `` She will sleep well enough , '' Matteo said , and drove on . Night was coming on , and they had no more towns to pass -- only a bit more of lonely level road and the lonely road that wound to and fro up the mountain-side . At the best , they could not reach home before ten o'clock . The road went to and fro -- sometimes open , to give a view of the Campagna and the Sabine Mountains , and Soracte swimming in a lustrous dimness on the horizon ; sometimes shut in closely by trees , that made it almost black in spite of the moon . For the moon was low and gave but little light , being but a crescent as yet . There was a shooting star now and then , breaking out like a rocket with a trail of sparks or slipping small and pallid across the sky .