midnight
-- THE HAIL-STORM . -- THE DREADFUL VISITOR . -- THE VAMPYRE . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- The solemn tones of an old cathedral clock have announced midnight -- the air is thick and heavy -- a strange , death like stillness pervades all nature . Like the ominous calm which precedes some more than usually terrific outbreak of the elements , they seem to have paused even in their ordinary fluctuations , to gather a terrific strength for the great effort . A faint peal of thunder now comes from far off . Like a signal gun for the battle of the winds to begin , it appeared to awaken them from their lethargy , and one awful , warring hurricane swept over a whole city , producing more devastation in the four or five minutes it lasted , than would a half century of ordinary phenomena .