five o’clock in the morning
Every moment they encountered severe shocks or were compelled to make detours ; now , to avoid running foul of a block , there to enter a channel , of which it was necessary to take advantage . At length the stoppages became still more alarming . There were only a few more hours of night . Could the fugitives not reach Irkutsk by five o'clock in the morning , they must lose all hope of ever getting there at all . At half-past one , notwithstanding all efforts , the raft came up against a thick barrier and stuck fast . The ice , which was drifting down behind it , pressed it still closer , and kept it motionless , as though it had been stranded . At this spot the Angara narrowed , it being half its usual breadth .