midnight
After hoping for a while so intensely that Braxton Wyatt and Blackstaffe were on either side of him , Henry felt sure it was true , so ready is eager hope to turn its belief into a fact , and he rejoiced anew at their vexation , laughing silently and long . Then he abruptly kicked the coals apart , smothered the smoke , and taking up his pack fled again , much amused and much heartened , for further efforts . He could not remember when he had spent a more enjoyable half hour . He maintained his flight until far after midnight , when , coming into stony ground , he found excellent shelter under a great ledge , one projecting so widely that when he awoke in the morning and found it raining , he was quite dry . It poured heavily until the afternoon , and he did not stir from his covert , but , wrapped in the painted coat and blankets , and taking occasional strips of the deer meat , he enjoyed the period of rest . It rained so hard that he could not see more than fifty yards away , and in the ravine before his ledge the water ran in a cold stream . The forest looked desolate and mournful , and he would have been desolate and mournful himself if it had not been for the single fact that he was able to keep dry .