four o'clock
Then , tired of lanes , I resolved to rely upon the small compass which hung from my watch chain and go across country home . `` I had got well into the marshes when a white fog , which had been for some time hovering round the edge of the ditches , began gradually to spread . There was no escaping it , but by aid of my compass I was saved from making a circular tour and fell instead into frozen ditches or stumbled over roots in the grass . I kept my course , however , until at four o'clock , when night was coming rapidly up to lend a hand to the fog , I was fain to confess myself lost . `` The compass was now no good to me , and I wandered about miserably , occasionally giving a shout on the chance of being heard by some passing shepherd or farmhand . At length by great good luck I found my feet on a rough road driven through the marshes , and by walking slowly and tapping with my stick managed to keep to it . I had followed it for some distance when I heard footsteps approaching me .