two o'clock in the morning
All the quiet comfort of the place sprang into view as if to reassure me ; the piano open as I had left it , the table strewn with my evening 's work , each bit of furniture , each drapery or trinket undisturbed . The Thing was gone . In the hush I heard my panting breath and the tick of my watch on the stand . It was two o'clock in the morning . As I mechanically read the hour , a cock somewhere shrilled its second call before dawn . The Horror had been true to the legendary time of apparitions . Weak and chilled , I presently made an attempt to rise .