one o'clock
Fragments of bread , the crust , and half of the ham she threw away . King opened his mouth to protest ; then shrugged and remained silent . His back to a tree , he sat and smoked until the hour had passed . Precisely at one o'clock they were on their way . Gloria caught her own horse , coiled the rope , and mounted . As King rode across the meadow and to the wooded slope beyond she followed . It seemed to her that this was all a dream ; she was almost light-headed ; the sternest of realities began to seem impalpable and distant and of scant moment .