ten o'clock
Dan stammered : `` Thank you , Mr. Pearse ; I 'm a better man on a horse than in a boat , but -- thank you . '' Cornered in this way , he 's a shy , soft-hearted being . Pearse smiled his thanks . `` Wednesday , then , at ten o'clock ; you sha n't regret it . '' `` Pertinacious beggar ! '' I heard Dan mutter in his beard ; and found myself marching down the lane again by Pearse 's side . I asked him what he was good enough to mean by saying I was coming , without having asked me .