four o'clock
-- _ Indian Pigsticking Song _ . Mrs. Norton looked contentedly at her image in the long mirror which reflected a graceful figure in a well-cut grey habit and smart long brown boots , a pretty face and wavy auburn hair under the sun-helmet . Then turning away and picking up her whip she left the dressing-room and , passing the door of her husband 's bedroom where he lay still sleeping , descended the broad marble staircase of the Residency to the lofty hall , where an Indian servant in a long red coat hurried to open the door of the dining-room for her . Almost at that moment a mile away Raymond , the adjutant of the 180th Punjaub Infantry , looked at his watch and called out loudly : `` Hurry up , Wargrave ; it 's four o'clock and the ponies will be round in ten minutes . And it 's a long ride to the Palace . '' He was seated at a table on the verandah of the bungalow which he shared with his brother subaltern in the small military cantonment near Rohar , the capital of the Native State of Mandha in the west of India . Dawn had not yet come ; and by the light of an oil lamp Raymond was eating a frugal breakfast of tea , toast and fruit , the _ chota hazri _ or light meal with which Europeans in the East begin the day .