about three o'clock
press on ! '' cried Tascher . `` When his Majesty provides such music , it 's scarcely polite to be late . '' At a quick trot we came on , and about three o'clock debouched in the plain behind Oudinot 's battalions of reserve , which were formed in two dense columns , about a hundred yards apart . `` Hussars to the front ! '' cried an aide-de-camp , as he galloped past , and waved his cap in the direction of the space between the columns . In separate squadrons we penetrated through the defile , and came out on an open plain behind the centre of the first line .