midnight
He gave a loud shriek , and fell on the lifeless body of VIOLET FANE ! -LSB- Illustration : dark thought -RSB- The green and bowery summer had passed away . It was midnight when two horsemen pulled up their steeds beneath a wide oak ; which , with other lofty trees , skirted the side of a winding road in an extensive forest in the south of Germany . `` By heavens ! '' said one , who apparently was the master , `` we must even lay our cloaks , I think , under this oak ; for the road winds again , and assuredly can not lead now to our village . '' `` A starlit sky in autumn can scarcely be the fittest curtain for one so weak as you , sir ; I should recommend travelling on , if we keep on our horses ' backs till dawn . ''