eight o'clock to nine
It 's ridiculous . Do you mean to tell me that with that town full of Germans those women have held the church tower since last night ? '' Mr. Burton drew a piece of paper from his pocket . `` From eight o'clock to nine , '' he said , `` the signal was ` Help , ' repeated at frequent intervals ; shortly after nine there was an attempt at a connected message . Allowing for corrections and for the fact that the light was growing dim , as though from an overused battery , the message runs : ` Help . Bring a ladder . They have cut the -- ' I am sorry that the light gave out just there , and the message was uncompleted . ''