four in the
morning
There was no breeze , and such as rose every now and then was laden with dust and the stench of oil paint . The few people that were on the streets sought shelter in the shade of the houses . Only sun-burnt street-pavers in bast shoes were sitting in the middle of the street , setting boulders into the hot sand ; gloomy policemen in unstarched blouses and carrying revolvers attached to yellow cords , were lazily shuffling about , and tram-cars with drawn blinds on the sides exposed to the sun , and drawn by white-hooded horses , were running up and down the street . When Nekhludoff arrived at the prison , the formal delivery and acceptance of the departing convicts , which began at four in the morning , were still going on . The party consisted of six hundred and twenty-three men and sixty-four women ; all had to be counted , the weak and sick had to be separated , and they were to be delivered to the convoy . The new inspector , two assistants , a physician , his assistant , the officer of the convoy and a clerk were sitting in the shade around a table with papers and documents , calling and examining each convict and making entries in their books . One-half of the table was already exposed to the sun .