two o’clock in the morning
One night , especially , pistol and gun-shots had been heard frequently in the city ; the numerous patrols of the Swiss and the body-guards had even been attacked , and had met with some barricades in the tortuous streets of the Ile Notre-Dame ; carts chained to the posts , and laden with barrels , prevented the cavaliers from advancing , and some musket-shots had wounded several men and horses . However , the town still slept , except the quarter which surrounded the Louvre , which was at this time inhabited by the Queen and M. le Duc d'Orleans . There everything announced a nocturnal expedition of a very serious nature . It was two o'clock in the morning . It was freezing , and the darkness was intense , when a numerous assemblage stopped upon the quay , which was then hardly paved , and slowly and by degrees occupied the sandy ground that sloped down to the Seine . This troop was composed of about two hundred men ; they were wrapped in large cloaks , raised by the long Spanish swords which they wore . Walking to and fro without preserving any order , they seemed to wait for events rather than to seek them .