about midnight
responded Nelly , catching almost unintentionally the low impressive tone of her neighbour . `` But what is ` t , woman , if I may speer ? '' This was exactly what Margaret wanted , to enable her to unburden her mind ; and she now proceeded to tell the cause of her distress . Some time about midnight , or it might be toward morning , she could not be certain which , she had been awakened from her sleep , by what she described as `` a sharp rap upon the window , followed by a lang laigh sough , like the wind whistling in a toom house . '' She rose stealthily from her bed , to ascertain , if possible , the cause of these unwonted noises , and , while she stood irresolute in the middle of the floor , she heard a low , husky , indistinct voice , which , she said , `` resembled that of a dying man , '' pronounce the word _ Mary _ . `` At hearing that voice , '' she continued , `` every hair on my head stood on end , and my very flesh shook as if it would have fa 'n from my banes ; but a mother 's affection for her ain bairn , and my anxiety anent Mary 's distress , made me desperate ; and , to be satisfied whether it was onything earthly which had uttered that word , I opened the door , and there I saw her wraith standing at the window as clear as ever I saw hersel ! -- Oh sirs !