eleven o’clock
As for Morgan , he watched Patout till he saw him disappear down the courtyard and enter the dark stable ; then , skirting the hedge which bordered the garden , he went toward a large clump of trees whose lofty tops were silhouetted against the darkness of the night , with the majesty of things immovable , the while their shadows fell upon a charming little country house known in the neighborhood as the Château des Noires-Fontaines . As Morgan reached the château wall , the hour chimed from the belfry of the village of Montagnac . The young man counted the strokes vibrating in the calm silent atmosphere of the autumn night . It was eleven o'clock . Many things , as we have seen , had happened during the last two hours . Morgan advanced a few steps farther , examined the wall , apparently in search of a familiar spot , then , having found it , inserted the tip of his boot in a cleft between two stones . He sprang up like a man mounting a horse , seized the top of the wall with the left hand , and with a second spring seated himself astride the wall , from which , with the rapidity of lightning , he lowered himself on the other side .