the hour of five
The weary eyes were wide open and turned toward the sky , but they no longer comprehended ; the disordered brain no longer conjured up fantastic scenes , nor gave birth to diseased thoughts ; the rest she had so long needed had come to her at last , and she slept -- slept that deep , dreamless sleep from which not even he , for whom she had sacrificed so much , could wake her . As the light grew more distinct , there stood revealed , on the top of the walls , four sentry-boxes . At short intervals , through the mist , the forms of the sentries could be seen , as they slowly paced to and fro , with rifles resting on their shoulders . The thick air was suddenly pierced by the penitentiary clock discordantly striking the hour of five . Hardly had its echoes died away when the clanking of chains and the decisive voices of the guards could be heard , issuing from the great stone building in the centre of the yard . Half an hour later the heavily-barred doors of the penitentiary swung open , and the convicts , surrounded by guards , filed slowly out into the courtyard . Before the men were taken to the various places of labor , they were ranged in single file , and their numbers called out .