the 10th of August, about five o'clock in the
afternoon
Interminable trains of wagons creaked along the sandy Saint-Avold road ; the whistle of the locomotive was heard again at Saint-Lys , where the Bavarians had established a base of supplies and were sending their endless , multicoloured trains puffing away towards Saarbrück for provisions and munitions of war that had arrived there from Cologne . Generals with their staffs , serious , civil fellows , with anxious , near-sighted eyes , stopped at the Château and were courteously endured , only to be replaced by others equally polite and serious . And regularly , after each batch left with their marching regiments , there came back to the Château by courier , the same evening , a packet of visiting-cards and a polite letter signed by all the officers entertained , thanking the Vicomte and Madame de Morteyn for their hospitality . At last , on the 10th of August , about five o'clock in the afternoon , the last squadron of the rear-guard cantered over the hills west of Morteyn , and the last straggling Uhlan followed after , twirling his long lance . Every day Lorraine had watched and waited for one word from her father ; every day Jack had ridden over to the Château de Nesville , but the marquis refused to see him or to listen to any message , nor did he send any to Lorraine . Old Pierre told Jack that no Germans had visited the Château ; that the marquis was busy all day with his machinery , and never left his turret except to eat at daylight in the grand salon below . He also intimated that his master was about ready to make another ascension in the new balloon , which , old Pierre affirmed , had a revolving screw at either side of the wicker car , like a ship ; and , like a ship , it could be steered with perfect ease .