eleven o'clock
A procession at the Porte St. Martin , -- the _ boeuf gras _ on Easter Monday , -- I 'm your man for either : but to sit bolt upright on your saddle for three , maybe four hours ; to be stared at by every _ bourgeois _ from the Rue du Bac ; to be pointed at with pink parasols and compared with some ribbon-vender of the Boulevards , -- _ par Saint Louis ! _ I ca n't even bear to think of it ! Look yonder , '' said he , pointing to the court of the Palace , where already a regiment was drawn up under arms , and passing in inspection before the colonel ; `` there begins the dress-rehearsal already . His Majesty says mid-day ; the generals of division draw out their men at eleven o'clock ; the colonels take a look at their corps at ten ; the _ chefs de bataillon _ at nine ; and , _ parbleu ! _ the corporals are at work by daybreak . Then , what confounded drilling and dressing up , as if Napoleon could detect the slightest waving of the line over two leagues of ground ; while you see the luckless adjutants flying hither and thither , cursing , imprecating , and threatening , and hastily reiterating at the head of each company , ` Remember , men , be sure to remember , that when the drums beat to arms , you shout `` Vive l'Empereur ! '' ' Rely upon it , Burke , if we had but one half of these preparations before a battle , we 'd not be the dangerous fellows those Russians and Austrians think us . ''