three o'clock in the afternoon
If there should be any trouble with the negroes , toward which her husband 's remark seemed to point , -- she knew the general political situation , though not informed in regard to her husband 's plans , -- she would like to have Mammy Jane near her , where the old nurse might be protected from danger or alarm . With this end in view she dispatched the nurse , shortly after breakfast , to Mammy Jane 's house in the negro settlement on the other side of the town , with a message asking the old woman to come immediately to Mrs. Carteret 's . Unfortunately , Mammy Jane had gone to visit a sick woman in the country , and was not expected to return for several hours . The Wellington riot began at three o'clock in the afternoon of a day as fair as was ever selected for a deed of darkness . The sky was clear , except for a few light clouds that floated , white and feathery , high in air , like distant islands in a sapphire sea . A salt-laden breeze from the ocean a few miles away lent a crisp sparkle to the air . At three o'clock sharp the streets were filled , as if by magic , with armed white men .