two o'clock
By skirting the upper walls , on the mountain side , he might , in a reasonably short space of time , reach the low woodlands north of the Castle walls . The danger from Marlanx 's scouts outside the city was not great ; they had been scattered and beaten by Haas 's recruiting parties . He stood in more danger from the men he would help , they who were the watchful defenders of the Castle . It must have been two o'clock when he crossed the King 's Highway , a mile or more above the northern gates , and struck down into the same thick undergrowth that had protected him and Hobbs on a memorable night not long before . At three o'clock , a dripping figure threw up his hands obligingly and laughed with exultation when confronted by a startled guardsman _ inside _ the Castle walls and not more than fifty yards from the water gates ! He had timed his entrance by the sound of the guardsman 's footstep on the stone protecting wall that lined the little stream . When he came to the surface inside the water gate , the sentry was at the extreme end of his beat .