five o'clock
The next battery , the Keg of Butter -- so called from a barrel-shaped rock which it overlooked -- was built of sods , and had mounted a single eighteen-pounder , on a traversing platform . Here , on the north-west side of the hill , the fortifications broke off , or were continued only by a low wall along the edge of the cliff ; and here the path , or _ via militaris _ , turned off at a sharp angle and led back towards the Castle , under the walls of which the Commandant passed , as a rule , to complete his inspection by visiting the three batteries on the northern cliffs . But to-day he broke his custom , and returned to the Garrison Garden . As he opened the gate , five o'clock sounded from the garrison bell , and at the first stroke of it he saw Sergeant Archelaus drive his spade into the soil , draw the back of his wrist across his forehead , and walk towards the veronica hedge for his tunic . `` Archelaus ! '' `` Sir ! '' `` I have been thinking over those trousers -- '' began the Commandant , picking his way between the briers that threatened to choke the path .