four o'clock
I shall take a couple of chickens , and some bread and coffee and sugar , and a bottle of brandy for emergencies ; but we shall have no difficulty in getting food in the villages . The troopers will only carry their day 's rations with them . After that I always act as mess caterer , and charge expenses when I get back here . '' Accordingly , the next morning they started at four o'clock . Stanley insisted that Harry should ride his second horse , for the present ; as his own , having been six weeks without exercise , and fed very much better than it had been accustomed to , was in much too high spirits to be pleasant for an invalid . Meinik , therefore , took Harry 's ; and the latter rode beside his cousin , whose horse had had abundant exercise , and was well content to canter quietly along by the side of his companion . By the end of ten days , Harry had picked up some of his strength .