midnight
As winter came on she used to sit up before her grate fire long , long after we were asleep in our beds . When she neglected to pull down the shades we could see the flames of her cosy fire dancing gnomelike on the wall . There came a night of sleet and snow , and wind and rattling hail -- one of those blustering , wild nights that are followed by morning-paper reports of trains stalled in drifts , mail delayed , telephone and telegraph wires down . It must have been midnight or past when there came a hammering at Blanche Devine 's door -- a persistent , clamorous rapping . Blanche Devine , sitting before her dying fire half asleep , started and cringed when she heard it , then jumped to her feet , her hand at her breast -- her eyes darting this way and that , as though seeking escape . She had heard a rapping like that before . It had meant bluecoats swarming up the stairway , and frightened cries and pleadings , and wild confusion .