three o’clock
He should be of age on the 28th of March , and he hoped then to be able to arrange for a stipend for a curate , if the Bishop approved , and would kindly enter into communication on the appointment with Mr. Halroyd , the incumbent . After considering his letter a little while , and wishing he was sufficiently intimate with Mr. Ashford to ask him if it would do , he wrote another to Mr. Ross , to inquire after Charles ; then he worked for an hour at mathematics , till a message came from the gamekeeper to ask whether he would go out shooting , whereat Bustle , evidently understanding , jumped about , and wagged his tail so imploringly , that Guy could not resist , so he threw his books upon the top of the great pile on the sofa , and , glad that at least he could gratify dog and man , he sent word that he should be ready in five minutes . He could not help enjoying the ecstasy of all the dogs , and , indeed he was surprised to find himself fully alive to the delight of forcing his way through a furze-brake , hearing the ice in the peaty bogs crackle beneath his feet ; getting a good shot , bringing down his bird , finding snipe , and diving into the depths of the long , winding valleys and dingles , with the icicle-hung banks of their streamlets . He came home through the village at about half-past three o'clock , sending the keeper to leave some of his game at the parsonage , while he went himself to see how the work was getting on at the school . Mr. and Mrs. Ashford and the boys were come on the same errand , in spite of the cloud of dust rising from the newly-demolished lath-and-plaster partition . The boys looked with longing eyes at the gun in his hand , and the half-frozen compound of black and red mud on his gaiters ; but they were shy , and their enmity added to their shyness , so that even when he shook hands with them , and spoke good-naturedly , they did not get beyond a monosyllable . Mr. and Mrs. Ashford , feeling some compunction for having left him to his solitude so long , asked him to dinner for one of the ensuing days , with some idea of getting some one to meet him , and named six o'clock .