five o'clock
When the strips of paper were examined , it was found that only two out of the twenty-one were in favour of remaining . `` That settles it , '' Chris said . `` It is thirty miles down to Elandslaagte by road , and as from here to Glencoe is five miles , and we are no nearer there than we are here , by cutting across to Waschbrank we shall have only five-and-twenty miles to ride . It is well that we should get there as early as possible , so we will settle to start at five o'clock , which will take us there by eight , in time to see anything that is going on . No doubt we shall be able to hear from natives as we go along whether the troops are still there ; at any rate if they are , we are sure to hear firing before we get there , unless , of course , the Boers have retired . '' The horses had already had an extra feed , and the Kaffirs were warned of the hour at which they were going to start . The pack-horses were able to keep up with the rest , for their loads were by no means heavy -- in fact , they carried less weight than the others .