ten o'clock
The event so anxiously awaited by us was to take place at the beginning of May , 1816 . To have you understand what followed , I must go back to April , 1815 . I was sitting at work on the evening of the 4th of April , when loud screams attracted my attention . I opened the window ; it was ten o'clock , and in the moonlight I observed that the street in front of our house was filled with a noisy and turbulent crowd of people . Collecting my thoughts , I blew out my lamp . I saw a man running rapidly along the street , followed by a great crowd shouting , ` Down with the Englishman . ' The man ran so quickly that he distanced all his pursuers , and I already thought that he was saved , when I saw him stagger and fall .