eight o'clock
Come with us ; there will be good eating and merriment , and also some fine shooting , I pledge you my word ! '' Julien refused at first , but Claudet insisted , and showed him the necessity of getting more intimately acquainted with the notables of Auberive -- people with whom he would be continually coming in contact as representing the administration of justice and various affairs in the canton . He urged so well that young de Buxieres ended by giving his consent . Manette received immediate instructions to prepare eatables for Hutinet , the keeper , to take at early dawn to the Belle-Etoile , and it was decided that the company should start at precisely eight o'clock . The next morning , at the hour indicated , the ` grand chasserot ' was already in the courtyard with his two hounds , Charbonneau and Montagnard , who were leaping and barking sonorously around him . Julien , reminded of his promise by the unusual early uproar , dressed himself with a bad grace , and went down to join Claudet , who was bristling with impatience . They started .