midnight
Foreseeing the possibility of an attack from the castle , the Austrians placed a hundred men at the foot of the road leading up to it , and laid their three cannon loaded to the muzzle to command it . `` Have you not , '' Malcolm asked the count , `` some means of exit from the castle besides the way into the town ? '' `` Yes , '' the count said , `` there is a footpath down the rock on the other side . '' `` Then , '' Malcolm said , `` as soon as they are fairly drunk , which will be before midnight , let us fall upon them from the other side . Leave fifty of your oldest men with half a dozen veteran soldiers to defend the gateway against a sudden attack ; with the rest we can issue out , and marching round , enter by the gate and breaches , sweeping the streets as we go , and then uniting , burst through any guard they may have placed to prevent a sortie , and so regain the castle . '' The count at once assented . In a short time shouts , songs , the sound of rioting and quarrels , arose from the town , showing that revelry was general .