midnight
I have striven to do what I thought , and the bishop said , in his Master 's name , was my duty -- well , I have my reward in the approbation of my conscience . Goodnight , Alfgar , goodnight ; I shall sleep soundly tonight ; I hope some day I may lay me down for my last long sleep as peacefully . '' Alfgar followed his example , and , commending himself to God , slept . About half-an-hour after midnight Alfgar awoke with a strange impression upon his mind that some one was in the room . It was very dark and stormy , and the wind , finding its way through crevices in the ill-built house , would account for many noises , but there was something stirring which was not the wind , and the impression was strong on his waking senses that between him and the window , which was opposite his bed , a figure had passed . Not fully trusting impressions produced at such a moment , yet with a heavy vague sense of evil weighing him down like a nightmare , Alfgar lay and listened . At length he heard a sound which might have been produced by falling rain percolating through the roof , drop , drop upon the floor , but it was strange , for there was no sound of rain outside at that moment .