about ten o'clock
If you are discreet , all will be well , and I -- I shall be very grateful . '' The driver mounted the box , the carriage rolled off down the hill , Dieppe was left by the Cross , with the message in his hand . He did not understand the situation . It was about ten o'clock -- or , it may be , nearer half-past ten -- the same night when two inhabitants of the village received very genuine , yet far from unpleasant , shocks of surprise . The first was the parish priest . He was returning from a visit to the bedside of a sick peasant and making his way along the straggling street towards his own modest dwelling , which stood near the inn , when he met a tall stranger of most dilapidated appearance , whose clothes were creased and dirty , and whose head was encircled by a stained and grimy handkerchief . He wore no hat ; his face was disfigured with blotches of an ugly colour and , maybe , an uglier significance ; his trousers were most atrociously rent and tattered ; he walked with a limp , and shivered in the cold night air .