about three o'clock in the
afternoon
said I. `` I will tell you , '' said the old man , `` though I do n't like talking about the matter . It may be about seven years ago that I happened to be far down yonder to the west , on the other side of England , nearly two hundred miles from here , following my business . It was a very sultry day , I remember , and I had been out several hours catching creatures . It might be about three o'clock in the afternoon , when I found myself on some heathy land near the sea , on the ridge of a hill , the side of which , nearly as far down as the sea , was heath ; but on the top there was arable ground , which had been planted , and from which the harvest had been gathered -- oats or barley , I know not which -- but I remember that the ground was covered with stubble . Well , about three o'clock , as I told you before , what with the heat of the day and from having walked about for hours in a lazy way , I felt very tired ; so I determined to have a sleep , and I laid myself down , my head just on the ridge of the hill , towards the field , and my body over the side down amongst the heath ; my bag , which was nearly filled with creatures , lay at a little distance from my face ; the creatures were struggling in it , I remember , and I thought to myself , how much more comfortably off I was than they ; I was taking my ease on the nice open hill , cooled with the breezes , whilst they were in the nasty close bag , coiling about one another , and breaking their very hearts , all to no purpose ; and I felt quite comfortable and happy in the thought , and little by little closed my eyes , and fell into the sweetest snooze that ever I was in in all my life ; and there I lay over the hill 's side , with my head half in the field , I do n't know how long , all dead asleep . At last it seemed to me that I heard a noise in my sleep , something like a thing moving , very faint , however , far away ; then it died , and then it came again upon my ear as I slept , and now it appeared almost as if I heard crackle , crackle ; then it died again , or I became yet more dead asleep than before , I know not which , but I certainly lay some time without hearing it . All of a sudden I became awake , and there was I , on the ridge of the hill , with my cheek on the ground towards the stubble , with a noise in my ear like that of something moving towards me , amongst the stubble of the field ; well , I lay a moment or two listening to the noise , and then I became frightened , for I did not like the noise at all , it sounded so odd ; so I rolled myself on my belly , and looked towards the stubble .