eight o'clock
This report seemed to please the little , grim , gray old man more than aught he had heard in several days ; for it made it apparent that the priest had not as yet divulged the tenor of his conjecture to the Outlaw of Torn . On the evening of the day preceding that set for the march south , a little , wiry figure , grim and gray , entered the cottage of Father Claude . No man knows what words passed between the good priest and his visitor nor the details of what befell within the four walls of the little cottage that night ; but some half hour only elapsed before the little , grim , gray man emerged from the darkened interior and hastened upward upon the rocky trail into the hills , a cold smile of satisfaction on his lips . The castle of Torn was filled with the rush and rattle of preparation early the following morning , for by eight o'clock the column was to march . The courtyard was filled with hurrying squires and lackeys . War horses were being groomed and caparisoned ; sumpter beasts , snubbed to great posts , were being laden with the tents , bedding , and belongings of the men ; while those already packed were wandering loose among the other animals and men . There was squealing , biting , kicking , and cursing as animals fouled one another with their loads , or brushed against some tethered war horse .