four in the morning
Do you see soldiers ? '' The good woman , distraught between suspense and hope for her little one , who had been missing for six long hours , blinked away a tear on her lashes and peered through the diamond panes . No one was to be seen . But between three and four in the morning the first faint champing of marching feet could be heard and the Hun came down from the bedroom looking as pale as death . He opened the door and stood there listening . The insolent crunch , crunch , crunch of heavy nail-studded service boots came nearer , and a khaki column appeared on the winding road . The housewife , whose aching eyes had searched the road for Boudru all day , saw them too .