about nine o'clock
With such secrecy and caution , indeed , had the revolutionists managed , that no knowledge of their movements had yet reached the ears of any of their opponents . And so guarded was their conduct , through the whole morning , that the court party leaders , although their spies had early been out , prowling round the whole village , were yet kept in entire ignorance of all that had transpired among the former during the night . Being consequently deceived by the false appearance which every thing within the reach of their observation had been made to wear , and feeling thus relieved of their last night 's guilty fears of a popular outbreak , these cruel and dastardly minions of royalty now counted on their triumph as complete , and , soon giving way to noisy exultation , they began openly to boast of the sanguinary measure by which their supposed victory had been achieved . And , about nine o'clock in the forenoon , the judges and officers of court , with a select number of their most devoted adherents , all in high spirits , and wholly unsuspicious of the storm that was silently gathering around them , formed a procession at the house of Brush , and , attended by a strong armed escort , marched ostentatiously through the street to the Court House , and entered the courtroom to commence the session . After the judges had been ushered to their seats , and while they were waiting for the crowd to enter and settle in their places , Chandler , who had kept aloof till the procession had begun to form , was seen to run his wary and watchful eye several times over the assembly , to ascertain whether there were any discoverable indications there pointing to any different state of things from the one so confidently assumed by his confederates , when he soon appeared to have noted some circumstance which caused him suddenly to exchange the bland smile he had been wearing for a look of thoughtfulness and concern . `` Do you notice anything unusual in the crowd this morning , Judge Sabin ? '' he said to his colleague , in an anxious whisper as he closed his scrutiny .