eight o'clock at night
The scent of wild honeysuckle and cluster roses came from the hedgerows . I ate my buns as I walked along ; I had made three and a half miles by the milestones in the first hour , and enjoyed every step of the way . `` If they do n't meet me , '' I thought , `` how astonished they will be when I walk in ! It will be something to brag of for many a day , to have walked fifteen miles after eight o'clock at night . '' The daylight had faded , but the moon was so bright and clear that the shadows of my solitary figure and the `` telegraph-postes '' were as black and sharp as at noonday . Bats were flitting about up and down . A white owl flew silently across the road .