about noon
And twice we met young Torode , galloping at speed , and showing to great advantage on Black Boy , whose ruffled black coat was streaked with sweat and splashed with foam , and who was evidently not enjoying himself at all . `` I 'm getting the devil out of him so that he 'll be all quiet for the afternoon , '' cried Torode , as he sped past us one time . And Gray Robin tried to look after his mate , and jogged comfortably along thanking his stars that if he did feel somewhat of a fool , he had decent quiet folk on his back , and was not as badly off as some he knew that day . So we came along the horse tracks down by Pointe Robert and crossed the head of the Harbour Road , past Derrible , and heard the sea growling at the bottom of the Creux , and then over Hog 's Back into Dixcart Valley , and so , about noon , into the road over the Common which led to the Coupée . Most of our friends were already there , -- some on this side waiting to cross , the more venturesome sitting in the heather and bracken on the farther side , with jokes and laughter and ironical invitations to the laggards to take their courage in their hands and come over . There was quite a mob in the roadway on the Common , the girls sitting on their horses , most of the men on foot . `` How is the path ? ''