seven o'clock
I was back in my saddle at six in the afternoon and stopped for feed and an hour 's rest at nine and rode on through the night . I reached the hamlet of Richville soon after daybreak and put out for a rest of two hours . I could take it easy then . At seven o'clock the mare and I started again , well fed and eager to go on . It was a summer morning that shortens the road -- even that of the young lover . Its air was sweet with the breath of the meadows . The daisies and the clover and the cornflowers and the wild roses seemed to be waving a welcome to me and the thorn trees -- shapely ornament of my native hills -- were in blossom .