nine o'clock
Why , do you know , sir , night afore last the beggars carried off a pickle-tub and two feather beds . And they call themselves men . '' Nick Garth spat on the ground in his disgust , closed one eye as he looked at his young master , gave his mouth a sounding slap , and went round at once to garden , stable , and barns , to quietly enlist the little force , making each man swear secrecy , so that at nightfall not another soul save the initiated had the slightest inkling of what was going on , either at Cliff Castle or the Black Tor . The crescent moon sank like a thin curve of light in the western sky soon after nine o'clock that night . At ten the last light disappeared at both places connected with the adventure , when Mark Eden lowered himself from his window on to the top of the dining-hall bay , and from thence to the ground . Soon after , there was a faint whispering and chinking , and three dark figures , carrying swords and pikes , descended the steep zigzag to the bottom of the great tongue of rock , where six men were lying down waiting ; and a few minutes later , all well-armed , they were tramping in single file through the darkness toward Steeple Stone . Their young leader , armed only with his sword , and wearing a steel morion of rather antiquated date , which could only be kept in place by a pad formed of a carefully folded silk handkerchief , was at their head ; and in obedience to his stern command , not a word was spoken as they made for the appointed tryst .