three o'clock
By two , at which hour the army , with its hair nicely oiled and a cane in its hand , was ready for a stroll , there would be some four or five hundred of them waiting in a line . Formerly they had collected in a wild mob , and as the soldiers were let out to them two at a time , had fought for them , as lions for early Christians . This , however , had led to scenes of such disorder and brutality , that the police had been obliged to interfere ; and the girls were now marshalled in _ queue _ , two abreast , and compelled , by a force of constables specially told off for the purpose , to keep their places and wait their proper turn . At three o'clock the sentry on duty would come down to the wicket and close it . `` They 're all gone , my dears , '' he would shout out to the girls still left ; `` it 's no good your stopping , we 've no more for you to-day . '' `` Oh , not one ! '' some poor child would murmur pleadingly , while the tears welled up into her big round eyes , `` not even a little one .