twenty minutes past seven
These orders were scrupulously carried out , except between five and seven in the morning , when sleep gained the mastery and the men ceased to go their rounds . But it was broad daylight out of doors . Besides , if there had been the least sound of bells , would they not have woke up ? Nevertheless , when one of them , at twenty minutes past seven , opened the door of the gallery and flung back the shutters , he saw that the twelve tapestries were gone . This man and the others were blamed afterward for not giving the alarm at once and for starting their own investigations before informing the colonel and telephoning to the local commissary . Yet this very excusable delay can hardly be said to have hampered the action of the police . In any case , the colonel was not told until half-past eight .