noon
The greater length of the road lay through the forest . It was , in fact , the very same route traversed , five years before , by Reuben Gray , when he brought Hannah and Ishmael from the Hill Hut to Woodside . Ishmael thought of that time , as he ambled on through the leafy wilderness . At noon he stopped at a rural inn to feed and rest his horse , and refresh himself , and an hour afterwards he mounted and resumed his journey . It was near sunset when he came in sight of the bay and the village to which it gave the name of Baymouth . How well he remembered the last time he had been at that village -- when he had run that frantic race to catch the sleigh which was carrying Claudia away from him , and had fallen in a swoon at the sight of the steamer that was bearing her off . How many changes had taken place since then !