five in the afternoon
You are upon a very perilous expedition and , in case of anything happening to you , it would be well for me that nothing , beyond a mere business transaction , could be traced between us . '' At seven o'clock the next morning they started . The distance was only thirty miles , but the roads were terribly slippery from the deep snow , now trampled flat by the immense traffic of the army . It was five in the afternoon when they reached the first sentries , at the entrance to Versailles . The pass was sufficient , and they went on uninterrupted . Percy drove , and Ralph sat beside him . The town swarmed with officers and soldiers , of all ranks .