midday
He struck a match and consulted his watch -- a quarter to four . Then , as he dressed and threw some clothes into a bag , he thought over the quickest route to the city . A stage line to Stockton crossed the valley eight miles to the south . By making a rapid hike he could catch the down stage and be in San Francisco before midday . He scrawled a few lines to Sadie , stood the note up across the face of the clock , and , his shoes in his hand , stole down the stairs and out of the house . The country slept under the hush that comes before the dawn . There was not a rustle in the roadside trees , a whisper in the grass .