nearly midnight
`` We had no difficulty , sir , '' Jacques said . `` We said that we once had served , and were going to do so again , having grown sick working in the vineyards ; and that we had come up from Blaye with a cargo of wine , and had taken our discharge , and were now bound for Agen to see our families , before joining the force that the Viscount de Rouillac , under whom our father held a farm , would no doubt be putting in the field . That was sufficient , and he let us go on without further question ; except that he said that we should have done better by going up to Saintes , or Cognac , and taking service with the force there , instead of making this long journey up to Agen . '' They walked steadily on until , when it was nearly midnight , they arrived at a small village on the banks of the Ciron . As the inhabitants would have been in bed , hours before , they made up their minds not to attempt to find a shelter there ; but to cross by the bridge , and sleep in the first clump of trees they came to . As they approached the bridge , however , they saw a fire burning in the centre of the road . Two men were sitting beside it , and several others lay round .