about four in
the afternoon
It lasted the better part of an hour . Then , alone in his cell , he hurled himself against the walls , screaming , or cowered upon the stone floor , pooling it with tears , sobbing horribly with his whole body , going now and again into convulsions of nausea . These actions were attributed by his guard to demoniacal rage , but not to fear . He thus fought blindly against the unfightable until about four in the afternoon , when exhaustion once more put a quietus upon him . It was then that his mother , having taken counsel at last with her patriot soul , visited him . She had succeeded , not without difficulty , in gaining permission . It was not every mother who could manage a last interview with a condemned son .