1815, 1 A.M.
`` Do n't agitate yourself , my dear , '' said her aunt . `` I will read it aloud , and then we can enjoy it together ; a far more comfortable method , my love , than when you go up the village , and come home out of breath , having snatched half the news as you run . '' `` I am all attention , dear aunt , '' said the little lady , clasping her hands tightly on her lap . Then Miss Jessamine read aloud -- she was proud of her reading -- and the old soldier stood at attention behind her , with such a blending of pride and pity on his face as it was strange to see : -- `` DOWNING STREET , '' _ June _ 22 , 1815 , 1 A.M. '' `` That 's one in the morning , '' gasped the Postman ; `` beg your pardon , mum . '' But though he apologized , he could not refrain from echoing here and there a weighty word . `` Glorious victory , '' -- `` Two hundred pieces of artillery , '' -- `` Immense quantity of ammunition , '' -- and so forth . `` The loss of the British Army upon this occasion has unfortunately been most severe .