eight o'clock
De la Noue at once placed a cordon of sentries , with orders that neither man , woman , nor child was to be allowed to leave it . Orders were issued , to the startled peasants , that all were to keep within their doors , at the peril of their lives . The horses were picketed in the street , and the soldiers stowed in barns ; trusses of straw were strewn round a fire for La Noue , and the gentlemen who followed him . At eight o'clock two videttes , thrown forward some distance along the road , rode in with a horseman . It was the Master of Grelot who , as he rode up to the fire , was heartily greeted by the Count . `` I am glad to find you here , Count , '' he said . `` I knew you to be a man of your word , but in warfare things often occur to upset the best calculations . ''