midnight
As the silent troops reached the neighborhood of Allertssohn 's house , the clock in the church-steeple slowly struck twelve , and directly after the alarm-bell began to sound from the tower of Pancratius . A window in the second story of the fencing-toaster 's house was thrown open , and his wife 's face appeared . An anxious married life with her strange husband had prematurely aged pretty little Eva 's countenance , but the mild moonlight transfigured her faded features . The beat of her husband 's drums was familiar to her , and when she saw him at midnight marching past to the horrible call of the alarm-bell , a terrible dread overpowered her and would scarcely allow her to call : `` Husband , husband ! What is the matter , Andreas ? '' He did not hear , for the roll of the drums , the tramp of the soldiers ' feet on the pavement and the ringing of the alarm-bell drowned her voice ; but he saw her distinctly , and a strange feeling stole over him . Her face , framed in a white kerchief and illumined by the moonlight , seemed to him fairer than he had ever seen it since the days of his wooing , and he felt so youthful and full of chivalrous daring , on his way to the field of danger , that he drew himself up to his full height and marched by , keeping most perfect time to the beat of the drums , as in lover-like fashion he threw her a kiss with his left hand , while waving his sword in the right .