nine o'clock
Anyhow , mas ' r -LRB- ye knows I ` se nigger do ` h , and do n't keep up ` quaintance a ` ter mas ' r sell um -RRB- , can put ye straight ` bout Missus Rosebrook 's house , and reckon how dat lady can put ye straight on Miss Frankone 's where ` bout . '' It is what the stranger wants . He has heard of Mrs. Rosebrook before ; she will give him the information he seeks ; so , turning again to the negro , he tells him that , for a few days at least , he shall require his presence at the same hour in the evening : tonight he must conduct him to Mrs. Rosebrook 's sequestered villa . The watch-tower bell of the guard-house sounds forth nine o'clock . The soldier-like sentinel , pacing with loaded musket , and armed with sharpest steel , cries out in hoarse accents , `` All 's well ! '' The bell is summoning all negroes to their habitations : our guide , Bill , informs the stranger that he must have a `` pass '' from a white man before he can venture into the street . `` Mas ' r may write ` um , '' he says , knowing that it matters but little from whom it comes , so long as the writer be a white man .