midnight
And he was not disappointed . Just as the first stroke of twelve sounded from the turret of Notre-Dame Cathedral , a blue light shot into the air from a point on this road , not more than a hundred yards from the river bank . Roused by the sight , Roderick straightened himself up , snatched his carbine from his left side , threw it up on his right shoulder and presented arms . The sixth stroke of midnight was just heard , when a second blue light darted skyward , but this time fully fifty yards nearer . The man who fired it was evidently running toward the river . Roderick made a step forward and uttered a low cry . The last stroke of the twelve had hardly been heard , when a third light whizzed up from the very brink of the river .