midnight
Percy and Ben offered to go back for him , but he would not consent , and Billie , solicitous and full of contrition for her reckless shooting , had the `` Comet '' out in a jiffy although Richard had asked to be allowed to walk . They found the van dark and quiet . Evidently the girls had heard nothing of the rumpus on the mountain and had felt no uneasiness about Richard , who was accustomed to taking strolls at untimely hours . It did not take long to bring the motor car back to camp and before midnight a peaceful calm had settled over the log hut . Phoebe , stretched on her cot in the living room , lay staring up into the darkness of the unceiled roof . She tried to think of her father somewhere out on the mountain , but always her thoughts reverted to the new young man with the kind , smiling eyes . Once she chanted in a low voice : '' ` How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings ! ' ''