midnight
` I heard the ringing of another bell , and a deep bell too , plainly . It was only for an instant , and even then the wind carried the sound away , but I heard it . I listened for a long time , but it rang no more . I had heard of corpse candles , and at last I persuaded myself that this must be a corpse bell tolling of itself at midnight for the dead . I tolled my bell -- how , or how long , I do n't know -- and ran home to bed as fast as I could touch the ground . ` I was up early next morning after a restless night , and told the story to my neighbours . Some were serious and some made light of it ; I do n't think anybody believed it real .