three in the afternoon
There are a few houses round the railway , and many more dotted over the plain and the slopes of the hills , but of a town , mediaeval or otherwise , not the slightest sign . He must take what is suitably termed a `` legno '' -- a piece of wood -- and drive up eight miles of excellent road into the middle ages . For it is impossible , as well as sacrilegious , to be as quick as Baedeker . It was three in the afternoon when Philip left the realms of commonsense . He was so weary with travelling that he had fallen asleep in the train . His fellow-passengers had the usual Italian gift of divination , and when Monteriano came they knew he wanted to go there , and dropped him out . His feet sank into the hot asphalt of the platform , and in a dream he watched the train depart , while the porter who ought to have been carrying his bag , ran up the line playing touch-you-last with the guard .