five o'clock
But he had not the heart to turn back to either . Somewhere down in that abyss of night , there was a clue -- or there were many clues -- to this strange absence of Gray Stoddard . Perhaps Gray himself was there ; and the Scotchman cursed his own dilatoriness in waiting till darkness had covered the earth before setting afoot inquiries . He found himself hurrying and getting out of breath as he took his way down the ridge and straight to Stoddard 's cottage , only to find that the master 's horse was not in the stable , and the Negro boy who cared for it had seen nothing of it or its rider since five o'clock that morning . `` I wonder , now , should I give the alarm to Hardwick , '' MacPherson said to himself . `` The lad may have just ridden on to La Fayette , or some little nearby town , and be staying the night . Young fellows sometimes have affairs they 'd rather not share with everybody -- and then , there 's Miss Lydia .