two o'clock
The guide avoided inhabited places , thinking it safer to keep the open country , which lies along the first depressions of the basin of the great river . Allahabad was now only twelve miles to the north-east . They stopped under a clump of bananas , the fruit of which , as healthy as bread and as succulent as cream , was amply partaken of and appreciated . At two o'clock the guide entered a thick forest which extended several miles ; he preferred to travel under cover of the woods . They had not as yet had any unpleasant encounters , and the journey seemed on the point of being successfully accomplished , when the elephant , becoming restless , suddenly stopped . It was then four o'clock . `` What 's the matter ? ''