midnight
The moonlight gave to this forest of great trees a weird , fantastic look . I felt like a knight entering an enchanted wood . But nothing disturbed our silence except the sudden awakening of a great bird or the stealthy rustle of an animal in the underbrush . Near midnight we rode into a grove of manacca palms as delicate as ferns , and each as high as a three-story house , and with fronds so long that those drooping across the trail hid it completely . To push our way through these we had to use both arms as one lifts the curtains in a doorway . -LCB- Illustration : I was sure life in Sagua la Grande would always suit me . -RCB- Aiken himself seemed to feel the awe and beauty of the place , and called the direction to me in a whisper .