four in the afternoon
The troopers entered the town while the Ting-tang was sounding , and before the roll could be called the prisoners were surrounded . Their release had come ; and though many had sighed for it for years , it found them quite unprepared . Their release had come ; but first they must be marched through the length of the country to Kelso , there to await the formalities of exchange . At four in the afternoon the infantry marched out with the first great batch . Early next morning the rest -- owners of furniture , granted a few hours to arrange for its storage or sale -- followed their comrades . There was no cloud of dust upon the road for Dorothea to watch . They departed in sheets of rain and under the dusk of dawn .