twelve o'clock
She considered her own means , and pictured her few possessions sold at auction ; she had already offered to go and dwell at Newtake and dispose of her cottage . But Will exploded so violently when the suggestion reached his ears that she never repeated it . While the widow thus bent her thoughts upon her son , and gradually sank to sleep with the problems of the moment unsolved , a remarkable series of incidents made the night strange at Newtake Farm . Roused suddenly a little after twelve o'clock by an unusual sound , Phoebe woke with a start and cried to her husband : `` Will -- Will , do hark to Ship ! He 'm barkin ' that savage ! '' Will turned and growled sleepily that it was nothing , but the bark continued , so he left his bed and looked out of the window . A waning moon had just thrust one glimmering point above the sombre flank of the hill .