eleven o'clock
Once inside they would quickly seize upon the arms already manufactured , loading them upon mules which were in readiness , set fire to the workshops , and haste away from the town . In case they should be attacked , they expected to raise easily five or six hundred men well provided with arms and ammunition . Don César had no doubt of the success of his enterprise , but the cursed bird -LSB- 62 -RSB- traditional in all conspiracies , past and to come , upset the brave caballero 's project . At eleven o'clock that evening the commandant Ramírez and the inspector of police had possession of all the individuals of the committee , and ten or a dozen of the most outspoken Carlists of Nieva , who , tied together and under the guard of half of a company , according to the orders of the general commander , were under the arcade of the town-hall , waiting the order of march . The only woman among these was Maria . In vain did Don Mariano , with tears in his eyes , beg the leader of the force to let him take her in a carriage . The commandant Ramírez declared that he was deeply grieved at not being able to gratify him , and that the only thing that he could do , out of respect for him , was to give her parole-leave and wait a few moments until she procured thick footwear and suitable outside garments , though to do this exposed him to the wrath of the brigadier who ... -LRB- and here the commandant Ramírez employed the term which we have already had the honor of applying to him -RRB- .