ten o'clock
He had been met on the Street Road , riding towards the Red Lion , that very afternoon , by a man who knew his face ; and , later in the evening came a second report , that an individual of his build had crossed the Philadelphia Road , this side of the Anvil , and gone southward into the woods . Many were the surmises , and even detailed accounts , of robberies that either had been or might be committed , but no one could say precisely how much was true . Mark Deane was not at home , and the blacksmith was commissioned to summon Alfred Barton , who had ridden over to Pennsbury , on a friendly visit to Mr. Joel Ferris . When he finally made his appearance , towards ten o'clock , he was secretly horror-stricken at the great danger he had escaped ; but it gave him an admirable opportunity to swagger . He could do no less than promise to summon the volunteers in the morning , and provision was made accordingly , for despatching as many messengers as the village could afford . Since the British occupation , nearly twenty years before , Kennett Square had not known as lively a day as that which followed . The men and boys were in the street , grouped in front of the tavern , the women at the windows , watching , some with alarmed , but many with amused faces .