midnight
Sally , who brought her mother with her , spent a couple of weeks at Hawtrey 's homestead before Watson decided that his patient could be entrusted to Sproatly 's care ; but she came back afterwards twice a week or so with odd baskets of dainties to make sure that the latter , in whom she had no confidence , was discharging his duties satisfactorily . She had driven over again one afternoon , when Hawtrey , whose bones were knitting well , lay talking to another man in his little sleeping room . There was no furniture in it whatever , beyond the wooden bunk he lay in , and a deerhide lounge chair he had made during the winter ; but the stovepipe from the kitchen led across part of it , and then up again into the room beneath the roof above . It had been one of Sproatly 's duties during the past two weeks to rise and renew the fire when the cold awakened his comrade soon after midnight . At present he was outside the house , whipsawing birch-logs and splitting them into billets , which was an occupation he cherished a profound dislike for . Spring had , however , come suddenly , as it usually does on the prairie , a few days earlier , and the snow was melting fast under a brilliant sun . The bright rays that streamed in through the window struck athwart the glimmering dust motes in the little bare room , and fell , pleasantly warm , upon the man who lay in the deerhide chair .