midnight
A dark , mustached face appeared in the black hole . For a long time it stared at Musya in astonishment -- and then disappeared as noiselessly as it had appeared . The bells rang and sang , for a long time , painfully . It seemed as if the tired Hours were climbing up a high mountain toward midnight , and that it was becoming ever harder and harder to ascend . They fall , they slip , they slide down with a groan -- and then again , they climb painfully toward the black height . Somewhere people were walking . Somewhere people were whispering .