midnight
He tried to shake it , but little came of that , for the gate was fastened firmly . Bit by bit stole the conviction over his mind that he was locked in . Then terror seized him . He was locked in the ghostly cloisters , close to the graves of the dead ; on the very spot where , as idle tales , went , the monks of bygone ages came out of those recording stones under his feet , and showed themselves at midnight . Not a step could he take , round the cloisters , but his foot must press those stones . To be locked in the cloisters had been nothing -LRB- from this point of view -RRB- for brave , grown , sensible men , such as the bishop , Jenkins , and Ketch -- and they had been three in company , besides -- but for many a boy it would have been a great deal ; and for Charles Channing it was awful . That he was alone , he never doubted .