three o'clock
Accordingly , a large , serried crowd was collected under the roofing of the spacious platform , a hundred yards in length , where all the benches were already covered with waiting pilgrims and their parcels . In the refreshment-room , at one end of the buildings , men were drinking beer and women ordering lemonade at the little tables which had been taken by assault , whilst at the other end bearers stood on guard at the goods entrance so as to keep the way clear for the speedy passage of the patients , who would soon be arriving . And all along the broad platform there was incessant coming and going , poor people rushing hither and thither in bewilderment , priests trotting along to render assistance , gentlemen in frock-coats looking on with quiet inquisitiveness : indeed , all the jumbling and jostling of the most mixed , most variegated throng ever elbowed in a railway station . At three o'clock , however , the sick had not yet reached the station , and Baron Suire was in despair , his anxiety arising from the dearth of horses , for a number of unexpected tourists had arrived at Lourdes that morning and hired conveyances for Bareges , Cauterets , and Gavarnie . At last , however , the Baron espied Berthaud and Gerard arriving in all haste , after scouring the town ; and when he had rushed up to them they soon pacified him by announcing that things were going splendidly . They had been able to procure the needful animals , and the removal of the patients from the hospital was now being carried out under the most favorable circumstances . Squads of bearers with their stretchers and little carts were already in the station yard , watching for the arrival of the vans , breaks , and other vehicles which had been recruited .