midnight
`` No , '' replied Gratz -- `` worse ; be silent . '' Amazed and wondering what could possibly be worse , and rummaging through the garret of all his unusual experiences , Robert could find nothing to correspond to this inexplicable phenomenon ; and it was with a sort of superstitious distraction that he beheld his uncle discard his transient hesitation and proceed with ghostly purpose to the opening of the bin . Advancing , Raikes placed the candle upon the bed of coals and began to unfasten the cord which secured the mouth of the bag which he carried . Robert had never beheld anything so ghastly as his uncle 's eyes , intent but unseeing ; nor so frightful as his motions , direct but unintelligent , like those of a midnight marionette controlled by invisible strings . In a few moments his efforts were successful , and the incredulous Robert beheld his uncle invert his precious burden and send a clinking , intrinsic shower of coin to the floor . Apparently this familiar sound had penetrated in some degree to his inner consciousness . An expression of vague uneasiness , of troubled irresolution , clouded his eyes , but this semi-intellection and its transient phasis subsided to his original apathy as , with a sigh of helpless impersonality , he began to collect , with a silly , childish selection , as if to balance , by the size of the individual coals , the proportion of the discharged gold , handfuls of these dusky diamonds and substitute the sordid heaps in the bag .