9 o'clock April
Mr. Ransom , somewhat startled , took the small paper offered him . It was none of his property but he held to it just the same . In the middle of a torn bit of paper he had read these words written in his own wife 's hand : Hunter 's Tavern , Sitford , Connecticut . At 9 o'clock April the 15th . `` By Jove ! '' he exclaimed , `` no one will ever hear me say again that lawyers are devoid of heart ? '' Mr. Ransom had never heard of Sitford , but upon inquiry learned that it was a small manufacturing town some ten miles from the direct route of travel , to which it was only connected by a stage-coach running once a day , late in the afternoon .