five in the
morning
she called back to him through the open door ; and slammed it behind her , leaving him standing there alone in the dark and curtained house . Neeland had undressed , bathed his somewhat battered body , and had then thrown himself on the bed , fully intending to rise in a few moments and await breakfast . But it was a very weary young man who stretched himself out for ten minutes ' repose . And , when again he unclosed his eyes , the austere clock on the mantel informed him that it was five -- not five in the morning either . He had slept through the first day of general mobilisation . Across the lowered latticed blinds late afternoon sunshine struck red . The crests of the chestnut trees in the rue Soleil d'Or had turned rosy ; and a delicate mauve sky , so characteristic of Paris in early autumn , already stretched above the city like a frail tent of silk from which fragile cobweb clouds hung , tinted with saffron and palest rose .