midnight
As he spoke , he pointed to a number of persons who crossed the terrace , preceded by Savary in his uniform of the Gendarmes d'Élite , and who went in the direction of the cell where the dead body lay . The prisoners now fell into little knots and groups , talking beneath their breath , and apparently terrified at every stir about them . Each compared his sensation of what he thought he heard during the night with the other 's . Some asserted that they distinctly heard the chains of the drawbridge creak long after midnight ; others vouched for the quick tramp of feet along the corridors , and the sounds of strange voices ; one , whose cell was beneath that of Pichegru , said that he was awoke before day by a violent crash overhead , followed by a harsh sound like coughing , which continued for some time and then ceased entirely . These were vague , uncertain signs , yet what horrible thoughts did they not beget in each listener 's mind ! As I stood terror-struck and speechless , I felt a tap oif my shoulder . I turned ; it was the Abbé , who , with a smile of peculiar irony , stood behind me .