midnight
Had she not always the fear before her eyes of Dame Mouseyrinks coming back and carrying out her threat of biting the princess to death ? Drosselmeier 's ingenious machines were of no avail against the clever , crafty Dame Mouseyrinks , and nobody save the court astronomer , who was also state astrologer and reader of the stars , knew that the family of the Cat Purr had the power to keep her at bay . This was the reason why each of the lady nurses was obliged to keep one of the sons of that family -LRB- each of whom was given the honorary rank and title of `` privy councillor of legation '' -RRB- in her lap , and render his onerous duty less irksome by gently scratching his back . `` One night , just after midnight , one of the chief nurses stationed close to the cradle , woke suddenly from a profound sleep . Everything lay buried in slumber . Not a purr to be heard -- deep , deathlike silence , so that the death-watch ticking in the wainscot sounded quite loud . What were the feelings of this principal nurse when she saw , close beside her , a great , hideous mouse , standing on its hind legs , with its horrid head laid on the princess 's face !