eight o'clock
the voters of Mr. Titmouse . This and one or two other matters having been thus arranged , Mr. Gammon , who was completely exhausted with his long labor , retired to a bedroom , and directed that he should without fail be called in one hour 's time . As he threw himself on the bed , with his clothes on , and extinguished his candle , he had at least the consolation of reflecting , that nine of the enemy 's stanchest voters were safely stowed away , -LRB- as he imagined , -RRB- and that seven or eight of the _ accessibles _ , pledged to Mr. Delamere , had promised to reconsider the matter . If Gammon had taken the precaution of packing the front of the polling-booth in the way I have mentioned , Mr. Crafty had not overlooked the necessity of securing efficient protection for his voters ; and between seven and eight o'clock no fewer than between four and five hundred stout yeomen , tenants of Lord De la Zouch and others of the surrounding nobility and gentry , made their appearance in the town , and insinuated themselves into the rapidly accumulating crowd : many of them , however , remaining at large , at the command of Mr. Delamere 's committee , in order , when necessary , to secure safe access to the poll for those who might require such assistance . It was strongly urged upon Mr. Crafty to bring up a strong body of voters at the commencement , in order to head the polling at the end of the first hour . `` Not the least occasion for it , '' said Crafty , quietly -- `` I do n't care a straw for it : in a small borough no end can be gained , where the voters are so few in number that every man 's vote is secured long beforehand to a dead certainty . There 's no _ prestige _ to be gained or supported .