midnight
My mind shook off its horrors and became bright and cheerful . And then -- then I began drinking heavily again . Evil memories commenced assailing me worse than ever , and my fair hopes abandoned me -- for life and death , sir , are both lodged in a woman 's heart , and some find the one and some the other . Once more I was visited by that midnight sighing , by that speechless moaning , by those voices that terrified my solitude and pursued me sleeping and waking , and I began to drink and run riot again once more . '' The man hid his drooping head in his hands . Even now those dreadful memories weighed him down when he thought upon them . `` Suddenly I began to be deaf .