10 o'clock
Others brought the news that John Jenkins , an Australian convict , was the prisoner . He had several times escaped the clutches of the `` law . '' He seemed to treat the whole proceeding as a bit of horseplay , joking profanely with his captors , boasting of his crimes . At 10 o'clock the Monumental fire bell struck several deep-toned notes and fifteen minutes later eighty members of the Vigilance Committee had assembled . The door was locked . A constable from the police department knocked upon it long without avail . Everything was very still about the building ; even the crowd which gathered there to await developments conversed in whispers .