Seven
o'clock
`` It ca n't be helped , we must own the carrion . I am afraid you may be called upon to identify him as an American artist , '' he said with a ghost of a smile on his deep-lined face ; and walked away through the Cours la Reine . Trent swore silently for a moment and then drew out his watch . Seven o'clock . `` Sylvia will be anxious , '' he thought , and hurried back to the river . The crowd still huddled shivering on the bridge , a sombre pitiful congregation , peering out into the night for the signals of the Army of the Loire : and their hearts beat time to the pounding of the guns , their eyes lighted with each flash from the bastions , and hope rose with the drifting rockets . A black cloud hung over the fortifications .