about eleven in the morning
_ May 12th . _ Before I had any intention of doing so , my dear uncle , my father persuaded me to ride Lucero . Yesterday , at six in the morning , I mounted the beautiful wild creature , as my father calls Lucero , and we set out for the country . I rode so well , I kept so firm a seat , and looked to such advantage on the superb animal , that my father could not resist the temptation of showing off his pupil ; and , about eleven in the morning , after resting at a grange he owns , half a league distant from here , he insisted on our returning to the village and entering it by the most frequented street , which we did , our horses ' hoofs clattering loudly against the paving-stones . It is needless to say that we rode by the house of Pepita , who for some time past is to be seen occasionally in her window , and who was then seated at the grating of a lower window , behind the green blind . Hardly had Pepita heard the noise we made than , lifting up her eyes and seeing us , she rose , laid down the sewing she had in her hands , and set herself to observe us . Lucero , who has the habit , as I learned afterward , of prancing and curveting when he passes the house of Pepita , began to show off , and to rear and plunge .