eight o’clock in
the evening
Then they were uncertain what to do next , fearful of the consequences of what they had done already , and sensible that after all they had carried no point , but had indeed left matters worse than they had found them . Of those who had come to The Boot , many dropped off within an hour ; such of them as were really honest and sincere , never , after the morning 's experience , to return , or to hold any communication with their late companions . Others remained but to refresh themselves , and then went home desponding ; others who had theretofore been regular in their attendance , avoided the place altogether . The half-dozen prisoners whom the Guards had taken , were magnified by report into half-a-hundred at least ; and their friends , being faint and sober , so slackened in their energy , and so drooped beneath these dispiriting influences , that by eight o'clock in the evening , Dennis , Hugh , and Barnaby , were left alone . Even they were fast asleep upon the benches , when Gashford 's entrance roused them . ` Oh ! you ARE here then ? '