two o'clock before
`` That is the worst of letting his candle go out , '' mused Richard , aloud ; `` some rat has got hold of him already . '' Then , with a steady foot and smiling face , which showed how all his previous fears had been assumed , he retraced his steps , and mounted to the upper air . The sky was clearer now ; and , casting the torch , for which he had no further need , far into the mine , and shouldering the ladder , he started for Gethin at good speed . It was past two o'clock before he reached his inn at Turlock ; but before he retired to rest he sat down to the supper that had been prepared for him , but without the appetite which he had anticipated . Robert Balfour did not remain at Turlock , as he had originally intended . Perhaps the vicinity to Wheal Danes was not so attractive to him as he had promised himself that it would be , although not for a single instant did his purpose of revenge relax . Other considerations , had he needed them , were powerful , now that he had taken the first step , to keep him on that terrible path which he had so long marked out for himself .