about three o’clock
So they agreed to try their fortune , thinking that it was so bad it could not be worse , and spent the rest of that day in getting ready as best they could . The seven horses still stood in the stable , and although they were stiff from want of exercise , had been hay-fed and watered . On these they proposed to ride , but first they must tell the truth to those who had stood by them . So about three o'clock of the afternoon Christopher called all the men together beneath the gateway and sorrowfully set out his tale . Here , he showed them , they could bide no longer , and to surrender meant that his new-wed wife would soon be made a widow . Therefore they must fly , taking with them as many as there were horses for them to ride , if they cared to risk such a journey . If not , he and the two women would go alone .