eight
o'clock in the morning
Now he was right , he , Ben-Zayb ! He was the only one in the islands who thought , the only one who foresaw events ! Truly , the news that seditious pasquinades had been found on the doors of the University not only took away the appetite from many and disturbed the digestion of others , but it even rendered the phlegmatic Chinese uneasy , so that they no longer dared to sit in their shops with one leg drawn up as usual , from fear of losing time in extending it in order to put themselves into flight . At eight o'clock in the morning , although the sun continued on its course and his Excellency , the Captain-General , did not appear at the head of his victorious cohorts , still the excitement had increased . The friars who were accustomed to frequent Quiroga 's bazaar did not put in their appearance , and this symptom presaged terrific cataclysms . If the sun had risen a square and the saints appeared only in pantaloons , Quiroga would not have been so greatly alarmed , for he would have taken the sun for a gaming-table and the sacred images for gamblers who had lost their camisas , but for the friars not to come , precisely when some novelties had just arrived for them ! By means of a provincial friend of his , Quiroga forbade entrance into his gaming-houses to every Indian who was not an old acquaintance , as the future Chinese consul feared that they might get possession of the sums that the wretches lost there .