ten o'clock
And that servant-body , instead of looking after her little missus , galloping out of the close on some bloody errand ! '' `` You ought to be thankful , Mrs. Blake , to have her out of the way , instead of around our children , poisoning their hinfant minds ! Thank God they are playing in the church lane like little Christians , safe from even that lad and lass yonder ! '' A yell of fighting from the little Christians mingled with their hoots at choir boys gathering for the ten o'clock service in St. Bat 's . When Mrs. Blake and her friend saw this preparation , they withdrew their dissenting heads from the arcades in order not to countenance what might go on below . Minute followed minute , and the little bell struck the four quarters . Then the great bell boomed out ten ; -- the bell which had given signal for lighting the funeral piles of many a martyr , on Smithfield , directly opposite the church .