six o'clock
The South has no system of public instruction ; no common schools ; no means of placing within the reach of the sons and daughters of the poor even the elements of knowledge . While the children of the wealthy are most carefully educated , it is the policy of the ruling class to keep the great mass of the people in ignorance ; and so long as this policy continues , so long will that section be as far behind the North as it now is , in all that constitutes true prosperity and greatness . The afternoon wore rapidly and pleasantly away in the genial society of our wayside-friends . Politics were discussed -LRB- our host was a Union man -RRB- , the prospects of the turpentine crop talked over , the recent news canvassed , the usual neighborly topics touched upon , and -- I hesitate to confess it -- a considerable quantity of corn whiskey disposed of , before the Colonel discovered , all at once , that it was six o'clock , and we were still seventeen miles from the railway station . Arraying ourselves again in our dried garments , we bade a hasty but regretful `` good-bye '' to our hospitable entertainers , and once more took to the road . The storm had cleared away , but the ground was heavy with the recent rain , and our horses were sadly jaded with the ride of the morning . We gave them the reins , and , jogging on at their leisure , it was ten o'clock at night before they landed us at the little hamlet of W -- Station , in the state of North Carolina .