nine o'clock
The rebel Jockey will have to swim the St. Lawrence on horseback , if he wishes to pay us a visit . '' The allusion was readily understood and hailed with a bumper . The note was from Hardinge who , on arriving at the Chateau and finding the Lieutenant-Governor engaged with his guests , wrote a line to inform him that he had safely crossed all the boats . As the matter was not particularly pressing , he had requested the orderly not to have the note delivered before nine o'clock . Scarcely had the noise of the toast subsided , when another waiter advanced with another note . `` This news will not be as good as the other , '' whispered one of the Barons to his neighbor , while the host was reading the despatch . `` And why , pray ? ''