nearly midnight
As soon as she had gained the other side of the island , where she was concealed from Raby 's sight by the trees , she pulled out vigorously for the Springton shore . When she reached it , she drew the boat up cautiously on the beach , fastened it , and hid herself among the trees . Her plan was to wait there until dusk , then push the boat adrift in the lake , and go out herself adrift into the world . She dared not set out on her walk to Fairfield until it was dark ; she knew , moreover , that the northern train did not pass until nearly midnight . These hours that Hetty spent crouched under the hemlock-trees on the shore of the lake were harder than any which she lived through afterward . She kept her eyes fixed on the opposite shore , on the spot where she knew the patient child was waiting for her . She pictured him walking back and forth , trying by childish devices to while away the time .