seven o'clock
Moralists , probably , would tell us , in fact , that the first led inevitably to the second . It fell out in this way . Once or twice in his travels with the Major he had been haunted by an uncomfortable suspicion that this or that contribution that the warrior made to their common table had not been come by honestly . When a gentleman , known to possess no more than tenpence , and with a predilection to drink , leaves the shelter of a small copse ; let us say , at seven o'clock , and reappears , rather breathless , forty minutes later with a newly-plucked fowl -- or even with a fowl not plucked at all , and still warm , or with half a dozen eggs ; and , in addition , issues out again later in the evening and returns with a strong smell of spirits and a watery eye -- it seems a little doubtful as to whether he has been scrupulously honest . In cases of this kind Frank persevered in making some excuse for not joining in the festivity : he put it to himself as being a matter of pride ; but it is hard to understand that it was simply that in a young man who made no scruple of begging in cases of necessity . However , there it was , and even the Major , who began by protesting , ended by acquiescing . * * * * * They were somewhere in the neighborhood of Market Weighton when the thing happened -- I can not identify the exact spot .