two o'clock
The darkness seemed by contrast more opaque than it had been before , and the two men lay stretched on the bare ground , a few paces from each other . All that they could descry before them in the dense shadows of the night was the window of the farm-house , faintly illuminated by the dim candle , which shone with a sinister gleam , as if it were doing duty by the bedside of a corpse . What time was it ? two o'clock , or three , perhaps . It was plain that the staff had not made acquaintance with their beds that night . They could hear Bourgain-Desfeuilles ' loud , disputatious voice ; the general was furious that his rest should be broken thus , and it required many cigars and toddies to pacify him . More telegrams came in ; things must be going badly ; silhouettes of couriers , faintly drawn against the uncertain sky line , could be descried , galloping madly .