midnight
Nothing is commoner than sorcerers in Guernsey . They exercise their profession in certain parishes , in profound indifference to the enlightenment of the nineteenth century . Some of their practices are downright criminal . They set gold boiling , they gather herbs at midnight , they cast sinister looks upon the people 's cattle . When the people consult them they send for bottles containing `` water of the sick , '' and they are heard to mutter mysteriously , `` the water has a sad look . '' In March , 1857 , one of them discovered , in water of this kind , seven demons . They are universally feared .