midnight
Having made the ascent twice before , I needed no guide . So I decided ; but I regretted the decision . Three times I lost the path ; once I came perilously near descending on the village below -- well , without hesitation . It was well after midnight when I passed the Half-way House , and I urged my donkey forward with a continual rat-a-tat-tat of well-directed kicks in the effort to make my goal . You who have experienced the philosophical calm and superb indifference of the Pike 's Peak donkey may imagine the vocabulary I used on this occasion -- I dare not print it . Nor did his speed increase . I was , in fact , a quarter of an hour late .