seven o'clock
`` Tell him who we are , Loraine , and why we _ must _ get to the city . '' Five minutes later , the farmer , overcome by the stupendous news , was lashing his oxen with might and main ; the astonished beasts tore down the road to Ronn so bravely that there seemed some prospect of getting a telegram through in time . All the way the excited countryman groaned and swore and sputtered his prayers . At Ronn they learned that the operator had been unable to call Edelweiss since seven o'clock . The wires were down or had been cut . Truxton left a message to be sent to Dangloss in case he could get the wire , and off they started again for the city gates , having lost considerable time by the diverted mile or two . Not man , woman or child did they encounter as the miles crept by .