midnight
The howl of her poor , shivering companion , so sharp and plaintive in reality came to her ear as if from a great distance , and for once she struggled to call Fair-Star by name , and tell him where she was , but her lips gave forth no sound , and when the dog set up another cry , Lina did not hear it . In less than an hour after Lina French fell so helplessly upon the snow drifted around that old house , the storm swept by , and forcing the leaden clouds aside , came the moon , followed by ten thousand stars , that shone calmly and pure in the frosty atmosphere . Directly , bright scintillations of frost arose upon the white waste of snow , and the whole earth seemed crusted with diamond dust . The midnight was supremely beautiful , and the stillness around that old house had something that seemed holy in it , but now and then a faint howl broke over the glittering hills , which gave warning that sorrow , pain , and , perhaps , death were near . A woman coming up from the shore heard the cry , and stopped to listen . She , too , was weary and panting from a toilsome struggle with the storm . But a cloak of soft Russian sables and a hood of crimson silk protected her as far as it was possible from the weather .