five in the afternoon
`` Thank you ; you shall have the holsters on your saddle ; but take my advice and do n't put pistols in ` em ; or if you do , follow Père Jérôme 's example -- he 's the conductor of the Geneva diligence -- and put powder and no balls in ` em . '' And with that philanthropic advice , the postilion took his leave , and went down the stairway singing a postilion 's song in a vinous voice . Montbar followed the song conscientiously through two verses , then , as the voice died away in the distance , he was obliged to forego the rest of the song , however interesting he may have found it . The next day , at five in the afternoon , Antoine , anxious , no doubt , not to be late , was in the courtyard of the Hôtel de la Poste , harnessing the three horses which were to relay the mail-coach . Shortly after , the coach rumbled into the courtyard at a gallop , and was pulled up under the windows of a room close to the servants ' stairway , which had seemed greatly to occupy Antoine 's attention . If any one had paid attention to so slight a detail it might have been observed that the window-curtain was somewhat imprudently drawn aside to permit the occupant of the room to see the persons who got out of the coach . There were three men , who , with the haste of famished travellers , made their way toward the brilliantly lighted windows of the common room .