nine o'clock
Nothing happened to them then , but Albert came back after his three years ' service , with two of his front teeth gone , and we all know that Jenö now is little better than an idiot . So now you know , stranger , why we at Marosfalva call the fourteenth day of September the very blackest in the whole calendar , and why at eight o'clock in the morning nobody is at work in the fields . For the fourteenth day being such a black one , we must all make the most of the few hours that come before it . At nine o'clock of that miserable morning the packing of our lads into the train will commence , but until then they are making merry , bless them ! They are true Hungarians , you know ! They will dance , and they will sing , they will listen to gipsy music and kiss the girls so long as there is breath in their body , so long as they are free to do it . At nine o'clock to-day they cease to be free men , they are under the orders of corporals and sergeants and officers who will command them to go `` Vorwärts '' and `` Rechts '' and `` Links '' and all that God-forsaken gibberish , and put them in irons and on bread and water if they do not obey .