eight in the
evening
Richard was so well treated by them , that he came to the conclusion that the Regulators had been dissolved , or at least that they had turned their attention to some more promising field of labor . On the first of November , when the boys assembled for morning prayers , the principal announced a new regulation , requiring every member of the Institute to be in-doors during the off time , from seven till nine in the evening . Before , they had been permitted to go where they pleased during these hours , as long as they did not leave the estate . But some of the boys had been seen in the village of Tunbrook after eight in the evening ; and all efforts to discover who they were had been unavailing . The prohibition had been made to correct this evil . When the new regulation was announced , there was a general murmur of disapprobation among the students , for some of their best sport had been enjoyed out of doors , after dark . No one ventured to remonstrate , but the order was exceedingly unpopular .