midnight
The boats steamed steadily on . Only one or two of the young soldiers had been hurt and they but lightly . All rolled themselves again in their blankets and coats and went back to sleep . The second awakening was about half way between midnight and dawn . Something cold was continually dropping on Dick 's face and he awoke to find hundreds of sheeted and silent white forms lying motionless upon the deck . Snow was falling swiftly out of a dark sky , and the fleet was moving slowly . In the darkness and stillness the engines throbbed powerfully , and the night was lighted fitfully by the showers of sparks that gushed now and then from the smoke stacks .