eight o'clock
`` I warn you , '' then resumed the Sister , `` that when we get to Lamothe , at ten o'clock , I shall order silence . However , I think you will all be very good and wo n't require any rocking to get to sleep . '' This made them laugh . It was now half-past eight o'clock , and the night had slowly covered the country-side . The hills alone retained a vague trace of the twilight 's farewell , whilst a dense sheet of darkness blotted out all the low ground . Rushing on at full speed , the train entered an immense plain , and then there was nothing but a sea of darkness , through which they ever and ever rolled under a blackish sky , studded with stars . For a moment or so Pierre had been astonished by the demeanour of La Grivotte .