midnight
`` It is an echo , monsieur , I fancy . That guitar is often heard at night , when all is still , but nobody knows who touches it , and it is sometimes accompanied by a voice so sweet , and so sad , one would almost think the woods were haunted . '' `` They certainly are haunted , '' said St. Aubert with a smile , `` but I believe it is by mortals . '' `` I have sometimes heard it at midnight , when I could not sleep , '' rejoined La Voisin , not seeming to notice this remark , `` almost under my window , and I never heard any music like it . It has often made me think of my poor wife till I cried . I have sometimes got up to the window to look if I could see anybody , but as soon as I opened the casement all was hushed , and nobody to be seen ; and I have listened , and listened till I have been so timorous , that even the trembling of the leaves in the breeze has made me start . They say it often comes to warn people of their death , but I have heard it these many years , and outlived the warning . ''