twelve
o'clock
And it is reported that His Majesty ran so fast and so far , that in less than three minutes he disappeared from before the guns of the military . Thanks to this , the prisoners were left in peace until they reached the prison , where they were lodged in a great hall , filthy enough , with a wooden floor , filled with rat-holes in many places . Maria was assigned a separate room , comparatively clean and comfortable . The hour set for the hearing before the council of war was twelve o'clock ; and when the clock struck , the prisoners , perfectly guarded , were transferred to a handsomely decorated salon in the building where it met . The officers composing it were seated behind a long table , covered with red damask trimmed with gold lace , under a velvet canopy which , in other times , before we had the republic , had served to give regality and prestige to the portrait of the king . The presiding officer was the military governor , who was anxious to have done with the business in a rapid and violent manner . He wished to inflict exemplary punishment upon all of the conspirators , or , what is the same thing , `` not to leave a mannikin with his head on , '' to use his own words .