six o'clock
As I struggled into my boots the following morning , I felt that Sir Valentine 's acid confidences on cub-hunting , bestowed on me at midnight , did credit to his judgment . `` A very moderate amusement , my dear Major , '' he had said , in his dry little voice ; `` you should stick to shooting . No one expects you to shoot before daybreak . '' It was six o'clock as I crept downstairs , and found Lady Knox and Miss Sally at breakfast , with two lamps on the table , and a foggy daylight oozing in from under the half-raised blinds . Philippa was already in the hall , pumping up her bicycle , in a state of excitement at the prospect of her first experience of hunting that would have been more comprehensible to me had she been going to ride a strange horse , as I was . As I bolted my food I saw the horses being led past the windows , and a faint twang of a horn told that Flurry Knox and his hounds were not far off . Miss Sally jumped up .