midnight
The ascent of the staircase was accomplished , however , only with infinite care , Lanyard testing each rise before trusting it with his weight or the girl 's . Twice he bade her skip one step lest the complaints of the ancient woodwork betray them . In spite of all this , no less than three hideous squeals were evoked before they gained the top ; each indicating a pause and wait of several breathless seconds . But it would seem that such servants as had been left in the house , in the absence of its chatelaine , either slept soundly or were accustomed to the midnight concert of those age-old timbers ; and without mischance , at length , they entered the main reception-hall , revealed by the dancing spot-light as a room of noble proportions furnished with sombre magnificence . Here the girl was left alone for a few minutes , while Lanyard darted above-stairs for a review of the state bedchambers and servants ' quarters . With a sensation of being crushed and suffocated by the encompassing dark mystery , she nerved herself against a protracted vigil . The obscurity on every hand seemed alive with stealthy footfalls , whisperings , murmurings , the passage of shrouded shapes of silence and of menace .