ten o'clock at night
`` I 'll bear it in mind , '' answered the officer , and the troop rode on in a cloud of dust , the sergeant looking back and smiling , as if 't was a joke that he shared with us . Well , to be short , they rode down into the town as night fell . But 't was too late , Uncle Philip having had fair warning and plenty of time to flee up towards the little secret hold under Mabel Down , where none but two families knew how to find him . All the town , though , knew he was safe , and lashins of women and children turned out to see the comely soldiers hunt in vain till ten o'clock at night . The next thing was to billet the warriors . The captain of the troop , by this , was pesky cross-tempered , and flounced off to the `` Jolly Pilchards '' in a huff . `` Sergeant , '' says he , `` here 's an inn , though a damned bad ` un , an ' here I means to stop .