noon
As I , Allan Quatermain , write the record of my vision , still I seem to hear the thunder of our horses ' hoofs while we rushed forward at full gallop over the plains , over the mountain passes and by the banks of rivers . The speed at which we travelled was wonderful , for at intervals of about forty miles were post-houses and at these , whatever might be the hour of day or night , we found fresh horses from the King 's stud awaiting us . Moreover , the postmasters knew that we were coming , which astonished me until we discovered that they had been warned of our arrival by two King 's messengers who travelled ahead of us . These men , it would seem , although our officers and guides professed ignorance of the matter , must have left the King 's palace at dawn on the day of our departure , whereas we did not mount in the city till a little after noon . Therefore they had six hours good start of us , and what is more , travelled lighter than we did , having no sumpter beasts with them , and no cooks or servants . Moreover , always they had the pick of the horses and chose the three swiftest beasts , leading the third in case one of their own should founder or meet with accident . Thus it came about that we never caught them up although we covered quite a hundred miles a day .