Two o'clock
` Taint my business to pull it up . The post wo n't run away . I 'll report what time I found it . '' Remembering that he had not cried the hour , he shouted : -- `` Two o'clock , all 's well ! '' He secreted himself in a doorway awhile , to see if any one would appear , but no one came . The early risers -- the milkmen and bakers ' apprentices going their rounds , shop boys on their way to kindle fires in stores -- all stopped to look at the figure . The news quickly spread .