about twenty minutes after five
Thence I walked forward again , and in the late afternoon came in sight of Minden Cottage . `` I recognized it at once from Harry 's description , and at first I was minded to walk up and knock boldly at the front door . But remembering also the lad 's account of the garden and how the Major would spend the best part of his day there -- and partly , I fancy , being nervous and uncertain with what form of words to present myself -- I pulled up at the angle of the house , where the lane comes up alongside the garden wall to join the road , and halted , to collect myself and study my bearings . `` The time was about twenty minutes after five , and the light pretty good . But the lane is pretty well overgrown , as you know . I looked down and along it , and it appeared to end in a tangle or brambles . I turned my attention to the house , and was studying it through my glasses , taking stock of its windows and chimneys , and generally -LRB- as you might say -RRB- reckoning it up , along with the extent of its garden , when , happening to take another glance down the lane , to run a measure of the garden wall -- or perhaps a movement caught my eye -- I saw a man step across the path between the brambles , out of the garden , as you might say , and into the plantation opposite .