two in the afternoon
Parabere declined to accompany me on the ground that he would not be at the pains of it ; and Colet I left in the kitchen to keep an eye on the man and woman . There was no moon , rain was still falling , and the yard , crowded with steaming , shivering horses , was dreary enough where the lanthorns displayed it ; but , accustomed to such a sight , I made , without regarding it , for the gate , which a moment 's examination showed to be barricaded , as they had described , with great beams and stones . In this there was nothing beyond the ordinary , one entrance to a house being in troublous times better than two ; but Boisrueil , bidding me kneel and look lower , I found , when I did so , that the soil under the beams -- which did not touch the ground by some inches -- was wet , and I began to understand . When he asked me at what hour rain had begun to fall , I answered two in the afternoon , and drew at once the inference at which he aimed -- that the beams had been put there , and the gate barricaded , at some later hour . `` We reached here at six , '' he said ; `` it was done some time between two and six , my lord ; therefore to-day . To-day , '' he repeated in a low voice ; `` and by a dozen men at least , Fewer could not move those beams . '' `` And the object ? ''