about noon
Not a traveler was in sight , and there being no means of ascertaining if the Duke had passed , he adopted the only safe course and took up the march for London . Presently , upon cresting a hill , they met a pair of Black Friars trudging slowly along towards York ; but little information was obtained from them , for they had not been on the road yesterday , having spent the last week at a neighboring monastery , which they had quit only that morning . It was rumored there , however , that the Duke of Gloucester had passed southward the prior day with a great train of attendants . This , at least , was some slight indication , and thanking them courteously De Lacy jogged on ; but it was not until they reached Doncaster , about noon , that accurate knowledge of the Duke was obtained . Halting before the inn of the `` Silver Sun , '' a ramshackle old house , from over whose door , as proclaiming the character of the place , projected a long pole with a bunch of furze on the end , De Lacy called , `` Ho , within ! '' The landlord , a big , blear-eyed rogue , much the worse for wear and ale , came shambling out at the summons . His listlessness vanished quickly enough , however , at sight of the Knight and his following ; and bowing to the ground he asked how he might serve them .