eight o’clock
We found a farmer just up , and made him give us sustenance for ourselves and our horses . I , feigning a toothache , muffled my face closely . Then ahead again , till Strelsau lay before us . It was eight o'clock or nearing nine , and the gates were all open , as they always were save when the duke 's caprice or intrigues shut them . We rode in by the same way as we had come out the evening before , all four of us -- the men and the horses -- wearied and jaded . The streets were even quieter than when we had gone : everyone was sleeping off last night 's revelry , and we met hardly a soul till we reached the little gate of the Palace . There Sapt 's old groom was waiting for us .