eleven o'clock
Liquor had lost its efficacy that evening , however , and a dead depression rested over the little town . Nor was it confined to Dutoitspan . All along the diggings the dismal tidings spread with a rapidity which was astonishing . At eleven o'clock there was consternation at Klipdrift . At quarter-past one Hebron was up and aghast at the news . At three in the morning a mounted messenger galloped into Bluejacket , and before daybreak a digger committee was sitting at Delporte 's Hope discussing the situation . So during that eventful night down the whole long line of the Vaal River there was ruin and heartburning and dismay , while five thousand miles away an old gentleman was sleeping calmly and dreamlessly in his comfortable bed , from whose busy brain had emanated all this misery and misfortune .