ten o’clock
`` Pascalon , '' said the apothecary in a low voice , and so close to him that the bristle of his moustache pricked his ear . `` I have news of Tartarin ... It is heart-breaking ... '' Seeing him turn pale , he added : `` Courage , child ! all can be repaired ... _ Différemment _ I confide to you the pharmacy ... If any one asks you for arsenic , do n't give it ; opium , do n't give that either , nor rhubarb ... do n't give anything . If I am not in by ten o'clock , lock the door and go to bed . '' With intrepid step , he plunged into the darkness , not once looking back , which allowed Pascalon to spring at the waste-paper basket , turn it over and over with feverish eager hands and finally tip out its contents on the leather of the desk to see if no scrap remained of the mysterious letter brought by the postman . To those who know Tarasconese excitability , it is easy to imagine the frantic condition of the little town after Tartarin 's abrupt disappearance . _ Et autrement , pas moins , différemment _ , they lost their heads , all the more because it was the middle of August and their brains boiled in the sun till their skulls were fit to crack .