six o’clock
`` No , far from it ; it 's only that gray mass along the horizon that always bodes continual rain . '' As the prospect without had little cheering to look upon , we sat down beside the fire and chatted away , forgetting very soon in a hundred mutual recollections and inquiries , the rain and the wind , the thunder and the hurricane . Now and then , as some louder crash would resound above our heads , for a moment we would turn to the window , and comment upon the dreadful weather ; but the next , we had forgotten all about it , and were deep in our confabulations . As for my fair cousin , who at first was full of contrivances to pass the time , -- such as the piano , a game at backgammon , chicken hazard , battledoor , -- she at last became mightily interested in some of my soldiering adventures , and it was six o'clock ere we again thought that some final measure must be adopted for restoring Baby to her friends , or at least , guarding against the consequences her simple and guileless nature might have involved her in . Mike was called into the conference , and at his suggestion , it was decided that we should have out the phaeton , and that I should myself drive Miss Blake home ; a plan which offered no other difficulties than this one , -- namely , that of above thirty horses in my stables , I had not a single pair which had ever been harnessed . This , so far from proving the obstacle I deemed it , seemed , on the contrary , to overwhelm Baby with delight . `` Let 's have them .