midnight
That rusty iron lamp ca n't be much use to anybody , but it 's quaint , and I 'd give it 's weight in dollars for it . Ca n't you tell me where Mr. Forsyth lives ? '' Musker stared at her horrified , Thomas Savine laughed , and even Helen , who had appeared unusually thoughtful , smiled . Musker answered : `` No money could buy one of them out of the family , and if any but a Thurston moves that lamp from where it hangs the dead men rise and come for it when midnight strikes . It is falling to pieces , but once when they took it to Kendal to be mended , the smith sent a man back with it on horseback before the day had broken . '' There was a few moments ' silence when Musker concluded , and the ancient weapons glinted strangely as the lamp 's flame wavered in the chilling draughts . A gale from the Irish Sea boomed about the crumbling tower , and all the lonely mosses seemed to swell it with their moaning .