ten o'clock
`` The risks are very great , '' said Sebastian , tapping his snuff-box reflectively . `` I am not an officer to talk of my honour , '' answered Barlasch , with a laugh . `` And as for risk '' -- he paused and put half a potato into his mouth -- `` it is Mademoiselle I serve , '' concluded this uncouth knight with a curt simplicity . So they set out at ten o'clock that night in a light sleigh on high runners , such as may be seen on any winter day in Poland down to the present time . The horses were as good as any in Dantzig at this date , when a horse was more costly than his master . The moon , sailing high overhead through fleecy clouds , found it no hard task to light a world all snow and ice . The streets of Dantzig were astir with life and the rumble of waggons .