midnight
Out of a hundred lambs , they would n't bring up more than half . `` They are poor , tender little things , any way . Well , I mind the time when there was a great storm , and grandfather had to be up all night , housing the poor craturs ; for the lambs were coming fast . A little past midnight , mother called me , and there we sat till morning , before a blazing fire , warming up one and another , as he brought them in . I sat down on a cricket , and took two or three in my lap at once , and hugged them up to my bosom . When they began to twitch , and we found they must die , we put them on the great hearth rug , and took more . Sometimes they 'd just lie down and go to sleep , and when we had time to look at them , they 'd be stiff and cold ; and then again they would cry out like a baby .