midnight
They watched the scarcely breathing , motionless figure on the bed for the best part of an hour , and could mark no change that told of death , nor any sign that told of life . Then Granny Marrable said : -- `` What was that ? '' And Gwen answered , as she really thought : -- `` It was the clock . '' For she took it for the warning on the stroke of midnight . But old Phoebe said , with a strangely unfaltering voice : -- `` No -- it is the change ! '' and the sob that broke the silence was not hers , but Ruth 's . Old Mrs. Picture had just lived to complete her eighty-first year .