seven o'clock
It had stopped raining about daybreak . At five o'clock the street lamps of Valencia were still burning , their flickering lights mirrored red as blood in the puddles of the uneven pavement . The irregular line of housetops was just beginning to stand out against an ashen background of sky brightening with the first glow of morning . The night watch-men were unhooking their lanterns from their stations at the street-crossings and walking off , stamping their chilled feet after wishing a listless _ bon dia _ to the pairs of hooded policemen who would not be relieved until seven o'clock . Faint from the distance through the stillness came the whistling of the morning trains leaving the suburbs . The church towers were beginning to clang with the first calls to the mass of sunrise , some of the bells droning and indistinct like the voices of old women , others shrill and high pitched like the chirping of children . From roof to roof -- their city quarters -- cocks were exchanging strident challenges to battle .