midnight
murder ! '' Protracted and underground echoes first repeat aloud the malevolent laughter of the screech-owl . Then they seem to die away in the very bowels of the earth . At this sound two large dogs , as black as midnight , with eyes glaring like burning coals , begin to run rapidly around -- around -- around the Schoolmaster , baying furiously . They almost touch him , and yet their bark appears as distant as if carried on the wind of the morning . Gradually these spectres fade away as the previous one did , and are lost in the pale vapour which is continually ascending . A new exhalation now arises from the lake of blood , and spreads itself on its surface .