six o'clock
`` This is a tremendous chance for descriptive writing , Stedman , '' said Gordon , enthusiastically ; `` all this confusion and excitement , and the people leaving their homes , and all that . It 's like the people getting out of Brussels before Waterloo , and then the scene at the foot of the mountains , while they are camping out there , until the Germans leave . I never had a chance like this before . '' It was quite dark by six o'clock , and none of the three messengers had as yet returned . Gordon walked up and down the empty plaza and looked now at the horizon for the man-of-war , and again down the road back of the village . But neither the vessel nor the messengers bearing word of her appeared . The night passed without any incident , and in the morning Gordon 's impatience became so great that he walked out to where the villagers were in camp and passed on half way up the mountain , but he could see no sign of the man-of-war .