two
o'clock
said I. ` Monsieur need have no fear of being disturbed ; I can safely assure him that he will have no one there for the next twenty-four hours . ' This was really pleasant intelligence ; so I chucked him a ten sous piece , and closing up the window as the morning was cold , once more lay back to sleep with a success that has never failed me . It was to a bright blue cloudless sky , and the sharp clear air of a fine day in winter , that I at length opened my eyes . I pulled out my watch , and discovered it was exactly two o'clock ; I next lowered the glass and looked about me , and very much to my surprise discovered that the diligence was not moving , but standing very peaceably in a very crowded congregation of other similar and dissimilar conveyances , all of which seemed , I thought , to labour under some physical ailment , some wanting a box , others a body , & c. , & c. and in fact suggesting the idea of an infirmary for old and disabled carriages of either sex , mails and others . ` Oh , I have it , ' cried I , ` we are arrived at Mt. Geran , and they are all at dinner , and from my being alone in the coupe , they have forgotten to call me . ' I immediately opened the door and stepped out into the innyard , crowded with conducteurs , grooms , and ostlers , who , I thought , looked rather surprised at seeing me emerge from the diligence . '' ` You did not know I was there , ' said I , with a knowing wink at one of them as I passed . ''