midnight
I do not know what they knew of the things happening beyond the hill , nor do I know if the silent houses I passed on my way were sleeping securely , or deserted and empty , or harassed and watching against the terror of the night . From Ripley until I came through Pyrford I was in the valley of the Wey , and the red glare was hidden from me . As I ascended the little hill beyond Pyrford Church the glare came into view again , and the trees about me shivered with the first intimation of the storm that was upon me . Then I heard midnight pealing out from Pyrford Church behind me , and then came the silhouette of Maybury Hill , with its tree-tops and roofs black and sharp against the red . Even as I beheld this a lurid green glare lit the road about me and showed the distant woods towards Addlestone . I felt a tug at the reins . I saw that the driving clouds had been pierced as it were by a thread of green fire , suddenly lighting their confusion and falling into the field to my left .