eight o'clock
It was noticeable that every one carried a heavy stick , though there was no other show of arms among them . Some of them , no doubt , had pistols , but there were no guns in the crowd . They seemed excited and alarmed . A few notes from the fife , however , banished all irresolution , and before eight o'clock two hundred men gathered from the country round marched away toward Melton , with a national flag heading the column , in front of which rode Eliab Hill in the carryall belonging to Nimbus . With them went a crowd of women and children , numbering as many more , all anxious to witness the first exercise of elective power by their race , only just delivered from the bonds of slavery . The fife screeched , the drum rattled ; laughter and jests and high cheer prevailed among them all . As they marched on , now and then a white man rode past them , silent and sullen , evidently enraged at the display which was being made by the new voters .