about twelve o'clock
When she came again to herself , she found that they had killed the only living creature which she could call companion , and actually hung the body of the dead cat around her neck ; but they were gone , and her hands were untied . During the ensuing night a watch was set upon poor Isbel 's house , thinking , as the persecutors did , that they would catch the nightly visitants , who were yet ignorant of their friend 's sufferings in their behalf . The men lay concealed among brackens , on the bank opposite to the pothouse , and near to Staffybiggin , the residence of the M'Dermots . To their surprise , a figure , about twelve o'clock , came warily and stealthily around a flock of sheep which lay ruminating in the hollow . It was a female figure , if not the devil in a female garb . They continued to keep silent and lie still . At last they saw the whole flock driven over and across a thick-set bush of fern .