midnight
Æsop had broken loose and been out hunting by himself ; I heard him baying up in the hills , and when at last I got him back it was one o'clock . A girl came from herding goats ; she fastened her stocking and hummed a tune and looked around . But where was her flock ? And what was she doing in the woods at midnight ? Ah , nothing , nothing . Walking there for restlessness , perhaps , for joy ; 't was her affair . I thought to myself , she had heard Æsop in the woods , and knew that I was out .