midnight
` Take off your glove , ' said the clerk . She did so with some difficulty , as the thing had about half a dozen buttons to unfasten . Then she was sworn and proceeded to tell her story . In a shrill voice , which visibly irritated the judge , she went on , and described how she had gone to bed , how she awoke at midnight and heard a sound proceeding from below . ` What was the nature of the sound ? ' asked the counsel who was examining her . ` It was a groan , ' was the reply , ` like as if somebody was being hurt . '