midnight
This was strictly the fact ; and the only error into which the unfortunate soldier had fallen , had reference merely to the character and motives of the party . He had naturally imagined , as he had stated , it was some young female of the village , whom attachment for his officer had driven to the desperate determination of seeking an interview ; nor was this impression at all weakened by the subsequent discourse of the parties in the Indian tongue , with which it was well known most of the Canadians , both male and female , were more or less conversant . The subject of that short , low , and hurried conference was , indeed , one that well warranted the singular intrusion ; and , in the declaration of Halloway , we have already seen the importance and anxiety attached by the young officer to the communication . Without waiting to repeat the motives assigned for his departure , and the prayers and expostulations to which he had recourse to overcome the determination and sense of duty of the unfortunate sentinel , let us pass at once to the moment when , after having cleared the ditch , conjointly with his faithful follower , in the manner already shown , Captain de Haldimar first stood side by side with his midnight visitant . The night , it has elsewhere been observed , was clear and starry , so that objects upon the common , such as the rude stump that here and there raised its dark low head above the surface , might be dimly seen in the distance . To obviate the danger of discovery by the sentinels , appeared to be the first study of the female ; for , when Captain de Haldimar , followed by his servant , had reached the spot on which she stood , she put the forefinger of one hand to her lips , and with the other pointed to his booted foot . A corresponding signal showed that the lightness of the material offered little risk of betrayal .