midnight
He knew a telegram was lying crumpled in the right-hand pocket of his fur coat ; but each time he tried to recall what was in the telegram , it seemed that a hammer kept knocking at his head , dulling his senses . The grateful country boy had no inkling that close beside him was sitting a man who had to exert superhuman strength not to succumb to an attack of raving madness . As a matter of fact , the boy was in danger of a maniac 's clutching him by the throat and drawing him into a life and death struggle . At his door Frederick shook hands with the farmer 's son and groped his way into the house through midnight darkness . The boy 's few words of thanks went down in a rushing and roaring of vast black waters . The sleigh-bells began to jingle again and never ceased , turning into that infernal ringing that had become firmly fixed in Frederick 's head since the shipwreck . `` I am dying , '' he thought when he reached his room .