about one o’clock after midnight
of Monday morning
You will find the farmer quite amenable to money , and you must secure the best horses you can get for our own use , and , if possible , the powerful mount I spoke of just now . You are both excellent horse-men , therefore I selected you amongst the others for this special errand , for you two , with the five horses , will have to come and meet our coal-cart some seventeen kilometres out of St. Germain , to where the first sign-post indicates the road to Courbevoie . Some two hundred metres down this road on the right there is a small spinney , which will afford splendid shelter for yourselves and your horses . We hope to be there at about one o'clock after midnight of Monday morning . Now , is all that quite clear , and are you both satisfied ? '' `` It is quite clear , '' exclaimed Hastings placidly ; `` but I , for one , am not at all satisfied . '' `` And why not ? ''