nearly four o’clock
The police officers treated him with still greater violence , and indeed almost strangled him when they noticed that his hands were stained with blood . It was the blood of the young woman . Florent raised his eyes to the luminous dial of Saint Eustache with his mind so full of these recollections that he did not notice the position of the pointers . It was , however , nearly four o'clock . The markets were as yet wrapped in sleep . Madame Francois was still talking to old Madame Chantemesse , both standing and arguing about the price of turnips , and Florent now called to mind how narrowly he had escaped being shot over yonder by the wall of Saint Eustache . A detachment of gendarmes had just blown out the brains of five unhappy fellows caught at a barricade in the Rue Greneta .