four o’clock in the afternoon
The day lagged tediously and slow . No one came near her , and , although she watched the farther side of the gorge , with all the frantic hope which is so near akin to despair , she saw nothing , heard nothing , but a few wood-pigeons among the leafless tree-tops , but the sob of the torrent and the sigh of the wintry wind . At times indeed the long stern swell of the legionary trumpets would again sound for the assault , and the din of warfare would follow it ; but the skirmishes were of shorter and shorter duration , and the tumultuous cheering of the rebels at the close of every onslaught , proved that their defence had been maintained at least , and that the besiegers had gained no advantage . It was , perhaps , four o'clock in the afternoon ; and the sun was beginning to verge to the westward , when , just after the cessation of one of the brief attacks -- by which it would appear that the besiegers intended rather to harass the garrison and keep them constantly on the alert , than to effect anything decided -- the sound of armed footsteps again reached the ears of Julia . A moment afterward , Caius Crispus entered the room hastily , accompanied by Niger and Rufus , the latter bearing in his hand a coil of twisted rope , manufactured from the raw hide of the slaughtered cattle , cut into narrow stripes , and ingeniously interwoven . `` Ha ! '' he exclaimed , starting for a moment , as he saw Julia .