nine o’clock
I was watching for Monica ; and my last chance must come soon if it were to come at all . Pilar and her father were not with us . They had gone into the cathedral , where they had secured seats not far from the royal chapel , and in the best position to hear the Miserere . Though it was early still , not quite nine o'clock , vast crowds were gathering and it was possible , they thought , that Carmona and his guests were already in their places . If they were seen there , Colonel O'Donnel would send out a messenger -LRB- a man employed in the cathedral -RRB- with a word for me . Earlier , this person had come to the hotel , where he had been told to look well at me that he might not fail to recognize me again . And Dick and I had not stood on sentinel duty for fifteen minutes when he appeared , beating through the opposing tide of the multitude as it swept towards the cathedral .