Eight o'clock
If , however , they are so strong in cavalry that you could not keep the field against them , I should say it were best that you should ride away , and join any party advancing to our assistance . '' A month passed quietly . Every day , a soldier carrying wine and provisions rode to the hut that had been built , on the crest of the hill three miles away . Eight o'clock one evening , towards the end of January , the alarm bell rang from the lookout tower . Philip and his cousin ran up . `` There is the beacon alight at the hut , count , '' the lookout said . `` Light this bonfire then , Jules , and keep the alarm bell going .