three o'clock
He made a desperate dash to get on the footboard again , but I prevented him , and in turn was compelled to fire . My bullet struck his right shoulder , and his weapon fell to the ground . Then I left him standing in the road , uttering a wild torrent of curses as I waved my hand in defiant farewell . A mile from Hanover I threw off my grey beard and other disguise , washed my face in a brook , abandoned the car , and at three o'clock that afternoon found myself safely in the express for Brussels , on my way to Paris , the city which at that moment I deemed safest for me . From that moment to this I have not been upon German soil . It occurred about a month after my return from Germany . A strange affair , assuredly ; and stranger still that my life should have been spared to relate it .