midnight
The young girls and their companions passed the hours very merrily upon the summit of the tall hill , from which the old border town was visible far below , its chimneys sending upward slender lines of smoke , which rose like blue and golden staves of olden banners , then were flattened , and so melted into air . Winchester itself had slowly sunk into gloom , for the evening was coming on , and a storm also . The red light streamed from a mass of clouds in the west , which resembled some old feudal castle in flames ; and the fiery furzes of the sunset only made the blackness of the mass more palpable . Then this light gradually disappeared : a murky gloom settled down upon the conflagration , as of dying fires at midnight , and a cool wind from the mountains rose and died away , and rose again , and swept along in gusts , and shook the trees , making them grate and moan . Verty rose to his feet . `` In five minutes we shall have a storm , '' he said . `` Come , Redbud -- and Miss Fanny . ''