eleven o'clock
they swarmed ! military hats , felt hats , bonnets , and over all the noise and confusion , the church bell tolled slowly . For a minute I stood on our own steps , not knowing which way to turn , and seeing at last that it was impossible to take a step in that crowd I turned into the little lane called the Lanche , in order to reach the ramparts and run and wait for the procession at the slope by the German gate , as then it would turn up the rue de Collége . It might have been eleven o'clock . I saw many things that day which have suggested many reflections since ; they were the signs of great trouble but nobody noticed them , nobody had the good sense to comprehend their significance . It was only later , when everybody was up to their necks in trouble , when we were obliged to take our knapsacks and guns , again to be cut in pieces ; then they said , `` if we had only had good sense and justice and prudence we should have been so much better off , we should have been quiet at home instead of this breaking up , which is coming ; we can do nothing but be quiet and submit ; what a misfortune ! '' I went along the Lanche , where they shot the deserters under the Empire .