twelve o’clock
When there is no sound on the earth except the ticking of the grasshopper , or the croaking of obscene frogs in the pool . And no light except that of the blinking stars , and the wicked and devilish wills-o ' - the-wisp , as they gambol among the marshes , and lead good men astray . When there is nothing moving in heaven except the owl , as he flappeth along lazily ; or the magician , as he rideth on his infernal broomstick , whistling through the air like the arrows of a Yorkshire archer . It was at this hour -LRB- namely , at twelve o'clock of the night , -RRB- that two beings went winging through the black clouds , and holding converse with each other . Now the first was Mercurius , the messenger , not of gods -LRB- as the heathens feigned -RRB- , but of demons ; and the second , with whom he held company , was the soul of Sir Roger de Rollo , the brave knight . Sir Roger was Count of Chauchigny , in Champagne ; Seigneur of Santerre , Villacerf and autre lieux . But the great die as well as the humble ; and nothing remained of brave Roger now , but his coffin and his deathless soul .