midnight
Then I ran swiftly forward in the direction where I had seen her , calling loudly upon her , but without reply . Again I called , and again no answer came back , save the melancholy wail of the owl . A second flash illuminated the landscape , and the moon burst out from behind its cloud . But I could not , though I climbed upon a knoll which overlooked the whole moor , see any sign of this strange midnight wanderer . For an hour or more I traversed the fell , and at last found myself back at my little cabin , still uncertain as to whether it had been a woman or a shadow upon which I gazed . It was either on the fourth or the fifth day after I had taken possession of my cottage that I was astonished to hear footsteps upon the grass outside , quickly followed by a crack , as from a stick upon the door . The explosion of an infernal machine would hardly have surprised or discomfited me more .