midnight
The night is calm , its stars twinkling through a haze . The year ends mournfully . I remember at school once waking suddenly on such a night as this , to find the moonlight streaming into my eyes . At such a moment it is always a little hard to collect one 's scattered senses , and take in the midnight world around , so unhomely , so absolutely still . First I cast my eyes along the two rows of beds that stretched away down the dormitory -- two parallel lines in long perspective ; my comrades huddled under their blankets in shapeless masses , gray or white according as they lay near or far from the windows ; the smoky glimmer of the oil lamp half-way down the room ; and at the end , in the deeper shadows , the enclosure of yellow curtains surrounding the usher 's bed . Not a sound about me ; all was still . But without , my ear , excited and almost feverishly awake , caught the sound of a strange call , very sweet , again and again repeated -- fugitive notes breathing appeal , tender and troubled .