midnight
It would have been difficult to imagine a bright fire blazing in the dull and darkened rooms , or to picture any gaiety of heart or revelry that the frowning walls shut in . It seemed a place where such things had been , but could be no more -- the very ghost of a house , haunting the old spot in its old outward form , and that was all . Much of this decayed and sombre look was attributable , no doubt , to the death of its former master , and the temper of its present occupant ; but remembering the tale connected with the mansion , it seemed the very place for such a deed , and one that might have been its predestined theatre years upon years ago . Viewed with reference to this legend , the sheet of water where the steward 's body had been found appeared to wear a black and sullen character , such as no other pool might own ; the bell upon the roof that had told the tale of murder to the midnight wind , became a very phantom whose voice would raise the listener 's hair on end ; and every leafless bough that nodded to another , had its stealthy whispering of the crime . Joe paced up and down the path , sometimes stopping in affected contemplation of the building or the prospect , sometimes leaning against a tree with an assumed air of idleness and indifference , but always keeping an eye upon the window he had singled out at first . After some quarter of an hour 's delay , a small white hand was waved to him for an instant from this casement , and the young man , with a respectful bow , departed ; saying under his breath as he crossed his horse again , ` No errand for me to-day ! ' But the air of smartness , the cock of the hat to which John Willet had objected , and the spring nosegay , all betokened some little errand of his own , having a more interesting object than a vintner or even a locksmith .