midnight
The moon struck fully , under his propped roof , upon the carved slab he had appropriated as a hearthstone ; and turning his eye to the spot , he saw the semblance of a man advanced in years , though not very old , standing motionless , and very steadfastly regarding him . The still face of the figure shone like marble in the night-beam , without giving any idea of the solidity of that material ; the long and deep shadows thrown by the forehead over the eyes left those unusally expressive features vague and uncertain . Upon the head was a close-fitting black cap , the dress was a loose-sleeved , plaited garment of white , descending to the ground , and faced and otherwise checkered with black , and girded round the loins ; exactly the costume which Shamus had often studied in a little framed and glazed print , hung up in the sacristy of the humble chapel recently built in the neighbourhood of the ruin by a few descendants of the great religious fraternity to whom , in its day of pride , the abbey had belonged . As he returned very inquisitively , though , as he avers , not now in alarm , the fixed gaze of his midnight visitor , a voice reached him , and he heard these strange words : `` Shamus Dempsey , go to London Bridge , and you will be a rich man . '' `` How will that come about , your reverence ? '' cried Shamus , jumping up from the straw . But the figure was gone ; and stumbling among the black embers on the remarkable place where it had stood , he fell prostrate , experiencing a change of sensation and of observance of objects around , which might be explained by supposing a transition from a sleeping to a waking state of mind .