nine o’clock
Not an hour of the day passed that I did not imagine some symptom of smallpox , and every morning when we met at breakfast I glanced at Emma with anxiety . The shadow of the thing lay deep upon my nerves , and I knew well that if I stopped there much longer I should fall a victim to it in the body . In this emergency , by means of Antonio , I opened negotiations with the officer of the _ rurales _ , and finally , after much secret bargaining , it was arranged that in consideration of a sum of two hundred dollars -- for by good luck I had escaped from the brigands with my money -- our flight through the cordon of guards should not be observed in the darkness . We were to start at nine o'clock on a certain night . At a quarter to that hour I went to the stable to see that everything was ready , and in the courtyard outside of it found Antonio seated against the water tank groaning and writhing with pains in the back . One looked showed me that he had developed the usual symptoms , so , feeling that no time was to be lost , I saddled the mules myself and took them round . `` Where is Antonio ? ''