midnight
So they were all in such a scare ! But he that was coming was our cooper Vavila ; he had bought himself a new pitcher , and had put the empty pitcher over his head . ' All the boys laughed ; and again there was a silence for a while , as often happens when people are talking in the open air . I looked out into the solemn , majestic stillness of the night ; the dewy freshness of late evening had been succeeded by the dry heat of midnight ; the darkness still had long to lie in a soft curtain over the slumbering fields ; there was still a long while left before the first whisperings , the first dewdrops of dawn . There was no moon in the heavens ; it rose late at that time . Countless golden stars , twinkling in rivalry , seemed all running softly towards the Milky Way , and truly , looking at them , you were almost conscious of the whirling , never -- resting motion of the earth ... . A strange , harsh , painful cry , sounded twice together over the river , and a few moments later , was repeated farther down ... .