Seven o’clock
And he went out quickly , carrying off the letter for Lyonne and the notes for Seldon 's mother , and taking up Moliere , who was beginning to lose patience . Chapter VII . Another Supper at the Bastile . Seven o'clock sounded from the great clock of the Bastile , that famous clock , which , like all the accessories of the state prison , the very use of which is a torture , recalled to the prisoners ' minds the destination of every hour of their punishment . The time-piece of the Bastile , adorned with figures , like most of the clocks of the period , represented St. Peter in bonds . It was the supper hour of the unfortunate captives . The doors , grating on their enormous hinges , opened for the passage of the baskets and trays of provisions , the abundance and the delicacy of which , as M. de Baisemeaux has himself taught us , was regulated by the condition in life of the prisoner .