two in the morning
said the privy councillor . He left the minister , to prepare for his journey , and hastened to seek General Brandis . Herr Beckmann had come to Hanover with the courier from Berlin , and he discovered to his great discontent that he could not set out again upon his already retarded journey , until various trains containing troops had been despatched from the railway station . It was two in the morning . He walked disconsolately up and down the platform , wrapped himself shiveringly in his large travelling cloak , smoked his cigar , and looked at the busy proceedings in the railway station . There was a train with a steaming engine close to the platform ; it consisted of only a few carriages , but in the centre there was a large saloon carriage richly gilt , and surmounted by a crown . `` What is that ? ''