three o'clock
With every step the dawn advanced , until at last the sun rose , and all the forest grew bright in the beams of day . A feeling of hope and joy succeeded to the late despondency which had been creeping over them ; but this only stimulated them to redoubled exertions , so that they might not , after all , find themselves at last cheated out of these bright hopes . That they were now pursued they all felt confident . At three o'clock the absence of the sentry must have been discovered , and , of course , the flight of Claude . Thereupon the alarm would at once be given . Cazeneau would probably be aroused , and would proceed to take action immediately . Even under what might be the most favorable circumstances to them , it was not likely that there would be a delay of more than an hour .