eight o'clock
`` He 's the nearest , '' Mr. Barker said ; `` take my word for it . '' `` I 'll tell you what will be the best plan , '' Reuben 's host of the night before said . `` I will ride at once to Mr. Barker 's and , if he will let me get a fresh horse there , I will gallop straight back to my place , and will send a man off the moment I arrive there to fetch Ruskin . `` It is only eight o'clock now . I can be home before noon , and my man will do the next stage in a little over four hours . If he finds Ruskin in , he can get to my place by ten o'clock at night , and can start again at daybreak ; so by eleven o'clock tomorrow he can be here . If he is n't here by that time , it will be because he was out when my man got there .