midnight
ha ! '' exclaimed the Quaker ; `` if Joe Johnson had not stopped to feed at Devil Jim 's , he might have overtaken my brother 's wagon full of escaping slaves . I tell thee , friend , because I 'm scarce concerned for thee now . '' Long after midnight , Dover was in bed , except at one large house on the Capitol green , where light shone through the chinks and cracks of curtains and shutters , and some watch-dog , perhaps , ran along curiously to see why . The stars and clouds in the somewhat troubled sky looked down through the leafless trees upon the pretty town and St. Jones 's Creek circling past it , and hardly noticed a long band of creeping men and animals steal up from the Meeting House branch , past the tannery and the academy , and plunge into the back streets of the place , avoiding the public square . One file turned down to the creek and crossed it , to return farther above , cutting off all escape by the northern road , while a second file slipped silently through and around the compact little hamlet and waited for the other to arrive , when both encompassed an old brick dwelling standing back from the roadside in a green and venerable yard , nearly half a mile from the settled parts of Dover . This house was brilliantly lighted , and the rose-bushes and shade trees were all defined as they stood above the swells of green verdure and the ornamental paths and flower-beds .