two o'clock
But Monsieur the Preceptor was in Paradise . That first night of Monsieur the Viscount 's imprisonment was a terrible one . The bitter chill of a Parisian autumn , the gnawings of half-satisfied hunger , the thick walls that shut out all hope of escape but did not exclude those fearful cries that lasted with few intervals throughout the night , made it like some hideous dream . At last the morning broke ; at half-past two o'clock , some members of the _ commune _ presented themselves in the hall of the National Assembly with the significant announcement : -- `` The prisons are empty ! '' and Antoine , who had been quaking for hours , took courage , and went with half a loaf of bread and a pitcher of water to the cell that was not `` empty . '' He found his prisoner struggling with a knot of white ribbon , which he was trying to fasten in his hair . One glance at his face told all .