eleven o'clock in the evening
But from that very time , I do n't know what it was , but it is a fact that he became more comfortable , and began to improve ... to improve ... to improve , until at last he became what you see him to-day . '' The other women confirmed this opinion . Each one related her experience in support of it , and the priest summed up all the arguments , showing that such miraculous effects were nothing more than was to be expected , granting that the sick person 's body received the presence of the Lord of the Heaven and earth , in whose hands is the safety of all mankind . At eleven o'clock in the evening , they brought the viaticum to Doña Gertrudis with all the ceremony required by such a solemn act . The house of Elorza was filled with strange faces ; a throng composed for the most part of working people invaded the stairway , the corridors , and even the invalid 's sick-room , with wax tapers in their hands . The priest , with the acolyte before him , and the holy box on his breast , passed by the physician , and entered the sick-room . Don Mariano had gone to hide himself .