ten o'clock
And lest the corruption of the city should lead the son astray as it had done Ramón in his student days , she would send don Andrés frequently to the capital , and write letter after letter to her Valencian friends , particularly to a canon of her intimate acquaintance , asking them not to lose sight of the boy . But Rafael was good behavior itself ; a model boy , a `` serious '' young man , the good canon assured the mother . The distinctions and the prizes that came to him in Alcira continued to pursue him in Valencia ; and besides , don Ramón and his wife learned from the papers of the triumphs achieved by their son in the debating society , a nightly gathering of law students in a university hall , where future Solons wrangled on such themes as `` Resolved : that the French Revolution was more of a good than an evil , '' or `` Resolved , that Socialism is superior to Christianity . '' Some terrible youths , who had to get home before ten o'clock to escape a whipping , declared themselves rabid socialists and frightened the beadles with curses on the institution of property -- all rights reserved , of course , to apply , as soon as they got out of college , for some position under the government as registrar of deeds or secretary of prefecture ! But Rafael , ever sane and a congenital `` moderate , '' was not of those fire-brands ; he sat on `` the Right '' of the august assembly of Wranglers , maintaining a `` sound '' attitude on all questions , thinking what he thought `` with '' Saint Thomas and `` with '' other orthodox sages whom his clerical Mentor pointed out to him . These triumphs were announced by telegraph in the Party papers , which , to garnish the chief 's glory and avoid suspicion of `` inspiration , '' always began the article with : `` According to a despatch printed in the Metropolitan press ... '' `` What a boy ! '' the priests of Alcira would say to doña Bernarda .