ten o’clock
I 'll be bound , said the corporal , speaking to himself , to _ give _ away my Montero-cap to the first beggar who comes to the door , if I do not manage this matter to his honour 's satisfaction . The completion was no further off than the very next morning ; which was that of the storm of the counterscarp betwixt the _ Lower Deule _ , to the right , and the gate _ St. Andrew _ , -- and on the left , between St. _ Magdalen 's _ and the river . As this was the most memorable attack in the whole war , -- the most gallant and obstinate on both sides , -- and I must add the most bloody too , for it cost the allies themselves that morning above eleven hundred men , -- my uncle _ Toby _ prepared himself for it with a more than ordinary solemnity . The eve which preceded , as my uncle _ Toby _ went to bed , he ordered his ramallie wig , which had laid inside out for many years in the corner of an old compaigning trunk , which stood by his bedside , to be taken out and laid upon the lid of it , ready for the morning ; -- and the very first thing he did in his shirt , when he had stepped out of bed , my uncle _ Toby _ , after he had turned the rough side outwards , -- put it on : -- This done , he proceeded next to his breeches , and having buttoned the waistband , he forthwith buckled on his sword-belt , and had got his sword half way in , -- when he considered he should want shaving , and that it would be very inconvenient doing it with his sword on , -- so took it off : -- In assaying to put on his regimental coat and waistcoat , my uncle _ Toby _ found the same objection in his wig , -- so that went off too : -- So that what with one thing and what with another , as always falls out when a man is in the most haste , -- ' twas ten o'clock , which was half an hour later than his usual time , before my uncle _ Toby _ sallied out . My uncle _ Toby _ had scarce turned the corner of his yew hedge , which separated his kitchen-garden from his bowling-green , when he perceived the corporal had begun the attack without him . ------ Let me stop and give you a picture of the corporal 's apparatus ; and of the corporal himself in the height of his attack , just as it struck my uncle _ Toby _ , as he turned towards the sentry-box , where the corporal was at work , -- for in nature there is not such another , -- nor can any combination of all that is grotesque and whimsical in her works produce its equal . The corporal ------ -- Tread lightly on his ashes , ye men of genius , -- for he was your kinsman : Weed his grave clean , ye men of goodness , -- for he was your brother .