midnight falls
Then he put out his taper , and let them do as they pleased . Conceive if you can the darkness of Egypt , the darkness that can be felt , impaled and stabbed through its whole thickness by one mighty moonbeam , clear and clean and cold , from the top to the bottom . All around , in the circle of the outer black , lie the great dead in their tombs , whispering to each other of deeds that shook the world ; whispering in a language all their own as yet -- the language of the life to come -- the language of a stillness so dread and deep that the very silence clashes against it , and makes dull , muffled beatings in ears that strain to catch the dead men 's talk : the shadow of immortality falling through the shadow of death , and bursting back upon its heavenward course from the depth of the abyss ; climbing again upon its silver self to the sky above , leaving behind the horror of the deep . So in that lonely place at midnight falls the moon upon the floor , and through the mystic shaft of rays ascend and descend the souls of the dead . Hedwig stood out alone upon the white circle on the pavement beneath the dome , and looked up as though she could see the angels coming and going . And , as she looked , the heavy lace veil that covered her head fell back softly , as though a spirit wooed her and would fain look on something fairer than he , and purer . The whiteness clung to her face , and each separate wave of hair was like spun silver .