three o'clock
monsieur , how much I am indebted to you for having helped me to escape from all those people ! '' Then , free at last , he hastened towards the Basilica by the narrow serpentine path which climbs the hill ; while his companion again plunged into the mob , to return to his post of inspection . At that same moment Pierre , who was bringing Marie to the Grotto in her little cart , encountered on the other side , that of the Place du Rosaire , the impenetrable wall formed by the crowd . The servant at the hotel had awakened him at three o'clock , so that he might go and fetch the young girl at the hospital . There seemed to be no hurry ; they apparently had plenty of time to reach the Grotto before the procession . However , that immense throng , that resisting , living wall , through which he did not know how to break , began to cause him some uneasiness . He would never succeed in passing with the little car if the people did not evince some obligingness .