four in the morning
Then there was silence . One little sigh escaped those lips , and that was all . The novice turned and fled , terrified at those words of prayer , which seemed to him so different from any that he had ever heard -- so different that they must be wrong ! At four in the morning the monks came in to chant their morning prayer . One by one they dropped into their places , scarcely noticing the prostrate figure before the altar-steps . It was usual enough for one of their number , or even a stranger staying in the monastery , to humiliate himself in that manner as a public penance . The Prior only gave a little start , as if an electric shock passed through his frame , when , on taking his seat in the choir , his eye fell upon that motionless form .