Midnight
A while longer he thus sat , brooding darkly ; then he rose with clouded face and stepped to the window . He breathed against the pane covered with rime , until a small space had been formed through which he could peer out into the open . He saw the dial opposite on the church steeple , from which the bells melodiously rang out in full-toned peals the closing moments of the old year , and proclaiming the advent of a new one . Midnight . Schmitz seized his hat , clapped it on , took his heavy cane into the right hand , blew out the lamp , and cautiously descended the dark staircase . On the ice-crusted step in front of the housedoor he lingered a moment , listening to the vibrations of the solemn bells . No other sound was audible ; no human step could be heard -- only the distant rush of air which , like the breath of a gigantic being , told of the thronged streets of a busy city .