eight o'clock
I have my doubts , but must be severely impartial . I will say this , however , that if any one of us had spent the afternoon over a good novel , or something of that kind , he would have been taken out of himself , and , when he rose , his mind would have been filled with quiet and gracious thoughts . Our gang were suffering from a form of the lust for blood ; they were thirsty , and they were possessed by that species of excitement which makes a man ready to turn savage on any , or no , provocation . The bar was like the place of damned souls until eight o'clock : everybody roared at the top of his voice ; nobody listened to anybody else , and everybody drank more or less feverishly . We had a supper to celebrate the destruction of the rabbits , and afterwards the truculent gentlemen , who had bellowed so vigorously in the field , sang sentimental songs about `` Mother , dear mother , '' `` Stay with me , my darling , stay , '' or patriotic songs referring to an article of drapery known as `` The Flag of Old Hengland . '' For half-an-hour our intricate choruses resounded as we went in groups deviously homeward , and a few members of our sporting flock dotted the paths at wide intervals . That kind of thing goes on all over the country in the winter time .