A few minutes before nine o'clock
The frost on the window-panes thickened -- the light of the full moon could not penetrate them ; all over the house were heard sounds like those on a straining ship at sea . The old timbers cracked now and then with a report like a pistol . `` It 's a dreadful night , '' said Mrs. Otis , and as she spoke the returning wind struck the house , and she gasped as if it had in truth taken her breath away . A few minutes before nine o'clock Mrs. Otis put away her knitting-work and got the great Bible off the desk . `` Stop fiddling now , Jim , '' she said , solemnly . Mrs. Otis spoke with more direct authority in religious matters than in others . She felt herself well backed by the spiritual law .