About two in
the morning
`` On the contrary , your statement is singularly lucid . '' `` I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be particularly so . I am not a very heavy sleeper , and the anxiety in my mind tended , no doubt , to make me even less so than usual . About two in the morning , then , I was awakened by some sound in the house . It had ceased ere I was wide awake , but it had left an impression behind it as though a window had gently closed somewhere . I lay listening with all my ears . Suddenly , to my horror , there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in the next room .