ten o’clock
The candidates are roused from their slumbers at an early hour by the music of their own bands perambulating the town , and each playing the ` conquering hero ' to sustain the courage of their jaded employers , by depriving them of that rest which can alone tranquillise the nervous system . There is something in that matin burst of music , followed by a shrill cheer from the boys of the borough , the only inhabitants yet up , that is very depressing . The committee-rooms of each candidate are soon rife with black reports ; each side has received fearful bulletins of the preceding night campaign ; and its consequences as exemplified in the morning , unprecedented tergiversations , mysterious absences ; men who breakfast with one side and vote with the other ; men who wo n't come to breakfast ; men who wo n't leave breakfast . At ten o'clock Mr. Rigby was in a majority of twenty-eight . The polling was brisk and equal until the middle of the day , when it became slack . Mr. Rigby kept a majority , but an inconsiderable one . Mr. Millbank 's friends were not disheartened , as it was known that the leading members of Mr. Rigby 's committee had polled ; whereas his opponent 's were principally reserved .