nine o’clock
Sir John went out to give his orders , and returned presently , saying they had served two cutlets and a cold fowl for them below . Roland took his valise and went down . The Englishman placed his pistols in the coach box again . Both ate enough to enable them to travel all night , and as nine o'clock was striking from the Church of the Cordeliers they settled themselves in the carriage and quitted Avignon , where their passage left a fresh trail of blood , Roland with the careless indifference of his nature , Sir John Tanlay with the impassibility of his nation . A quarter of an hour later both were sleeping , or at least the silence which obtained induced the belief that both had yielded to slumber . We shall profit by this instant of repose to give our readers some indispensable information concerning Roland and his family . Roland was born the first of July , 1773 , four years and a few days later than Bonaparte , at whose side , or rather following him , he made his appearance in this book .