twelve o'clock
As they passed the station of Chatellerault a sudden burst of voices made Pierre start , and drove away the torpor into which his reverie had plunged him . What was the matter ? Were they reaching Poitiers ? But it was only half-past twelve o'clock , and it was simply Sister Hyacinthe who had roused him , by making her patients and pilgrims say the Angelus , the three `` Aves '' thrice repeated . Then the voices burst forth , and the sound of a fresh canticle arose , and continued like a lamentation . Fully five and twenty minutes must elapse before they would reach Poitiers , where it seemed as if the half-hour 's stoppage would bring relief to every suffering ! They were all so uncomfortable , so roughly shaken in that malodorous , burning carriage !