midnight
The first lightning rent the sky and the storm came up in haste , bursting above our heads , and as the thunder roared closer and closer after the flash I was more and more frightened . Moreover the sick child wept piteously and waxed restless with fever and pain . By this time all was still in the dining-hall ; but when my aunt bid me let the housekeeper take my place by the little one 's bed and go to my rest , I would not ; for indeed I could in no wise have slept . They let me have my way , and soon after midnight , seized with fresh dread anent Herdegen , I was at the open window to let the rough wind fan my hot head , when suddenly the hounds set up a furious barking , as though the Forest lodge were beset on all sides by robbers . And at the same time I saw , by the glare of the lightning , that the old lime-tree in the midst of my aunt 's herb garden was lying on the earth . This cut me to the heart , inasmuch as this tree was dear to my uncle , having been planted by his grandfather ; and there was never a spot where his ailing wife was so fain to be in the hot summer days as under its shadow . Aye , and all my young life 's happiness , meseemed , was like that tree-torn up by the roots , and I gazed spellbound at the blasted lime-tree till I was affrighted by a new horror ; on the furthest rim of the sky , on the side where the town lay , I beheld a line of light which waxed broader and brighter till it was rose and blood-red .