five o’clock
Then they rushed into the salon , where the two strongest seized and gagged Malin , and carried him off into the park , while the three others remained behind to gag Madame Marion and Grevin and lash them to their armchairs . The whole affair did not take more than half an hour . The three unknown men , who were quickly rejoined by the two who had carried off the senator , then proceeded to ransack the chateau from cellar to garret . They opened all closets and doors , and sounded the walls ; until five o'clock they were absolute masters of the place . By that time the valet had managed to loosen with his teeth the rope that bound Violette . Violette , able then to get the gag from his mouth , began to shout for help . Hearing the shouts the five men withdrew to the gardens , where they mounted horses closely resembling those at Cinq-Cygne and rode away , but not so rapidly that Violette was unable to catch sight of them .