midnight
Of the twenty-four hours in the day there is only one which he can not command ; during which no person ever saw him , and during which he never was employed in any terrestrial occupation . '' `` And this hour is ? '' `` The twelfth in the night . When the clock strikes twelve at midnight he ceases to belong to the living . In whatever place he is he must immediately be gone ; whatever business he is engaged in he must instantly leave it . The terrible sound of the hour of midnight tears him from the arms of friendship , wrests him from the altar , and would drag him away even in the agonies of death . Whither he then goes , or what he is then engaged in , is a secret to every one .