six
o'clock
Who had written it ? Was it a plan of escape ? Perhaps it was only a word of empty sympathy ; but no , Reynolds was a practical man . Oh , how long the hours were , till at last the prison-bell rang at six o'clock , and the gangs all over the farm formed into little squads and marched toward the prison , the warders drawing after them the light iron bridges of the canals , which were locked on one side every night . By this means `` The Farm , '' which was intersected by a score of these wide and deep trenches , was impassable ; and as it hemmed in one side of the hill on which the prison stood , with a guard tower on either end , it was a greater safeguard even than the wall of the prison . The four political prisoners marched into the yard . The Warder , before locking them up , made each one raise his arms and stand to be searched .