five o'clock
But the daylight was slowly fading away ! Very strangely , ever since our departure from Nideck we had met neither wood-cutters , nor charcoal-burners , nor timber-carriers . At this season the silence and solitude of the Black Forest is as deep as that of the North-American steppes . At five o'clock it was almost dark . Sperver halted and said -- `` Fritz , my lad , we have started a couple of hours too late . The she-wolf has had too long a start . In ten minutes it will be as dark as a dungeon .