one o'clock
He wrote them in duplicate , so that he might send off another messenger , three hours later ; in case , by any chance , Ryan failed to reach Miranda . He carefully abstained from giving any real account of the strength of the various columns , in each case putting the number at five times their actual strength so that , if the despatches should miscarry , not only would no information be conveyed to the French , but they would be led to believe that the invading force was vastly stronger than they had hitherto supposed . Ryan was , of course , to explain , when he delivered the despatches , that the figures must in all cases be divided by five , and the reason why false numbers had been inserted . Terence let him sleep until one o'clock , and then roused him . Several French horses had been found , straying riderless along the valley ; and the best of these was picked out for him . A few minutes later , Dick was on his way to Miranda . The road by which he was to travel would take him some six miles south of Zamora , and the distance to be ridden was between fifty and sixty miles .