nine o'clock
Their first stupor having passed , the children conversed with each other in whispers and tried in their own poor way to console one another . Jacob , whose mutilated ear and broken arm had not been improved by the rough treatment he had experienced , wept bitterly at first , until the savage voice of a soldier bade him be quiet . Then the child made a Spartan-like endeavor to forget his pain and fell asleep upon his brother 's breast . It was nine o'clock on Sunday morning when they arrived at the Governor 's palace . The devout and religious General Drudkoff usually declined to transact any business on that day ; but this was an important matter of State , a question threatening perhaps the very existence of the Empire , and a departure from ordinary rules was allowable . The waifs were brought into the ante-chamber , and obliged to pass muster before his excellency , who read them a lesson upon their future career and duties . After those whose hasty abduction had made it impossible to dress , had been provided with odds and ends of clothing , the rags cast off by the children of the Governor 's serfs , and which his excellency declared were much too good for Jews , the lads were again placed upon rickety carts , and , while the Governor proceeded to his religious services at the _ kiosk _ , they were escorted under a strong guard to the military headquarters at Kharkov .