one o’clock
P.M.
For more than thirty years the Abbe Constantin had been Cure of the little village which slept there in the plain , on the banks of a slender stream called La Lizotte . The Abbe Constantin was walking by the wall which surrounded the park of the castle of Longueval ; at last he reached the entrance-gate , which rested high and massive on two ancient pillars of stone , embrowned and gnawed by time . The Cure stopped , and mournfully regarded two immense blue posters fixed on the pillars . The posters announced that on Wednesday , May 18 , 1881 , at one o'clock P.M. , would take place , before the Civil Tribunal of Souvigny , the sale of the domain of Longueval , divided into four lots : 1 . The castle of Longueval , its dependencies , fine pieces of water , extensive offices , park of 150 hectares in extent , completely surrounded by a wall , and traversed by the little river Lizotte . Valued at 600,000 francs . 2 .