eight o’clock in the morning
Paganel never quitted the Indian 's side . It was not that he was so glad to see a real Patagonian , by whom he looked a perfect pigmy -- a Patagonian who might have almost rivaled the Emperor Maximii , and that Congo negro seen by the learned Van der Brock , both eight feet high ; but he caught up Spanish phrases from the Indian and studied the language without a book this time , gesticulating at a great rate all the grand sonorous words that fell on his ear . `` If I do n't catch the accent , '' he said to the Major , `` it wo n't be my fault ; but who would have said to me that it was a Patagonian who would teach me Spanish one day ? '' NEXT day , the 22d of October , at eight o'clock in the morning , Thalcave gave the signal for departure . Between the 22d and 42d degrees the Argentine soil slopes eastward , and all the travelers had to do was to follow the slope right down to the sea . Glenarvan had supposed Thalcave 's refusal of a horse was that he preferred walking , as some guides do , but he was mistaken , for just as they were ready , the Patagonian gave a peculiar whistle , and immediately a magnificent steed of the pure Argentine breed came bounding out of a grove close by , at his master 's call . Both in form and color the animal was of perfect beauty .