six o'clock
The next day there was an armistice , from one till six , to collect and bury the dead , and the officers and men of the contending parties moved over the ground which had been the scene of conflict , chatting freely together , exchanging cigars and other little articles . Jack , who had gone down with his commanding officer , created no slight astonishment among the Russians by conversing with them in their own language . In answer to their questions , he told them that he had been a prisoner among them , and begged them to forward a note which he had that morning written to Count Preskoff at Berislav , acquainting him that he had made his escape across the Russian frontier , and had rejoined the army , for he thought it probable that the letter which he had given to Count Stanislaus to post , after he left him , might never have come to hand . At six o'clock the guns again re-opened ; the Russians having made good use of their time in arming fresh batteries to counteract the effect of the works we had carried . We had indeed hard work in maintaining our hold of the quarries , which were commanded by several batteries , whose position placed them outside the range of our guns . Our loss was very heavy , as also was that of the French in the Mamelon , which was made a centre for the Russian fire . On the nights of the 16th and 17th some of the British and French ships stood in close to Sebastopol , and kept up a heavy fire upon the town .