about three o'clock in the
morning
The king obeyed , seated himself at the back of the carriage , the padded door of which was shut and locked immediately upon him and his guide . As for the giant , he cut the fastenings by which the horses were bound , harnessed them himself , and mounted on the box of the carriage , which was unoccupied . The carriage set off immediately at a quick trot , turned into the road to Paris , and in the forest of Senart found a relay of horses fastened to the trees in the same manner the first horses had been , and without a postilion . The man on the box changed the horses , and continued to follow the road toward Paris with the same rapidity , and entered the city about three o'clock in the morning . The carriage proceeded along the Faubourg Saint-Antoine , and after having called out to the sentinel , `` by the king 's order , '' the driver conducted the horses into the circular inclosure of the Bastille , looking out upon the courtyard , called La Cour du Gouvernement . There the horses drew up , reeking with sweat , at the flight of steps , and a sergeant of the guard ran forward . `` Go and wake the governor , '' said the coachman in a voice of thunder .