About midnight
I thought long upon this theme , and wondered to what I was yet destined , -- whether to some condition of real eminence , or to move on among that vulgar herd who are the spectators of life , but never its conspicuous actors . I really believe this ignoble course was more distasteful to me from its flatness and insipidity than from its mere humility . It seemed so devoid of all interest , so tame and so monotonous , I would have chosen peril and vicissitude any day in preference . About midnight I reached Croft 's Gulley , where , after knocking for some time , a very sulky old negro admitted me into a stable while I baited my mare . The house was shut up for the night ; and even had I sought refreshment , I could not have obtained it . After a brief halt , I again resumed the road , which led through a close pine forest , and , however much praised , was anything but a good surface to travel on . Charcoal , however , made light of such difficulties , and picked her steps over holes and stumps with the caution of a trapper , detecting with a rare instinct the safe ground , and never venturing on spots where any difficulty or danger existed .