midnight
The question was often put by one who slept -- `` Are the three days past yet ? '' and those awake gave him the answer he could not hear . Then some of them seemed to clutch his neighbour in his dreams , and call out , that he had now caught him , and would avenge on him the death of the Forester , accompanying his speech with a struggle , as if he were in the act of stabbing Gilmanscleugh . Another would call to the mother , to know the hour ; and , when she told him that it was midnight , or an hour past midnight , he would sigh deeply , as if he felt the hours of the three days winged with lead . Then again , a victim of nightmare groaned with fear , at the vision of the Forester 's ghost , and cried , that it would not have long to walk the glen , for that the three days were fast on the wing . The shrill scream of a passing eagle or solitary owl , wakening those who slumbered in a half sleep , was mistaken for their father 's horn , and an appeal to the mother was required to rectify the mistake . All these things passed in her hearing , and threw a gloom over her mind , which was not relieved by the look which she every moment stole at the dead face , as it shone white as the shroud in the light of the lamp : but she stood the trial , and continued her watch .