noon
At any rate I told them no absolute lies . The councillor will not have a chance of asking me any more questions this evening , and I only hope that he will be too busy to think any more about it . I will take the road through Ghent ; it matters little which way I go , for the two roads seem to me to be of nearly equal distance . '' He therefore at once left the road he was following , and struck across the fields northward until he came upon the road to Ghent , at which town he arrived soon after noon , having walked two or three and twenty miles . Fearing to be questioned he passed through the town without stopping , crossed the Scheldt and continued his way for another five miles , when he stopped at the village of Gontere . He entered a small inn . `` I wish to stop here for the night , '' he said , `` if you have room ? ''