About midnight
I fancied , too , I had noticed -- but was not philosopher enough to know whether there was any connection between the circumstances -- that we often at the same time hear of disturbed volcanic action in distant parts of the world ; of rivers suddenly rushing above their banks ; and of strange high tides flowing furiously in on low sea-coasts . `` Our globe , '' I had said to myself , `` seems at such periods torn and disordered ; the feeble amongst us wither in her distempered breath , rushing hot from steaming volcanoes . '' I listened and trembled ; Miss Marchmont slept . About midnight , the storm in one half-hour fell to a dead calm . The fire , which had been burning dead , glowed up vividly . I felt the air change , and become keen . Raising blind and curtain , I looked out , and saw in the stars the keen sparkle of a sharp frost .