about one o'clock
Having cautiously followed the two men into the road , and ascertained that they were not lurking anywhere about `` The Shrubbery , '' he hurried off at once to Hopeworth , and communicated what he had seen and heard to the police . He was very anxious that no unnecessary alarm should be given to Mrs Franklin or Mary , and that they should be kept , if possible , in ignorance of the whole matter till the danger was over ; so he resolved to accompany the constables , who , with the superintendent , were preparing to encounter the housebreakers . It was presumed , from what he had overheard , that an attempt was to be made on `` The Shrubbery '' that very night , and that the two men seen by John Randolph were only part of a larger gang . Help was therefore procured , and about one o'clock a party of a dozen , including John , all disguised in labourers ' clothes , had noiselessly scaled the fence in different parts by two and two , and , recognising one another by a password previously agreed upon , were soon clustered together under some dense shrubs not far from the passage window before mentioned . It was a tranquil morning , but very cloudy . All was deep stillness in the house . Little did Mrs Franklin and her daughter think , as they read together before parting for the night those comforting words , `` The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him , and delivereth them , '' that such foes and such protectors were so close at hand .