midnight
There , on the great high-backed carved oak chair sat the Judge in his robes of scarlet and ermine , with his baleful eyes glaring vindictively , and a smile of triumph on the resolute , cruel mouth , as he lifted with his hands a _ black cap _ . Malcolmson felt as if the blood was running from his heart , as one does in moments of prolonged suspense . There was a singing in his ears . Without , he could hear the roar and howl of the tempest , and through it , swept on the storm , came the striking of midnight by the great chimes in the market place . He stood for a space of time that seemed to him endless still as a statue , and with wide-open , horror-struck eyes , breathless . As the clock struck , so the smile of triumph on the Judge 's face intensified , and at the last stroke of midnight he placed the black cap on his head . Slowly and deliberately the Judge rose from his chair and picked up the piece of the rope of the alarm bell which lay on the floor , drew it through his hands as if he enjoyed its touch , and then deliberately began to knot one end of it , fashioning it into a noose .