five
o’clock
At the darkening her man came in from the hills , a lean giant , who in one step covered as much ground as three paces of ordinary mortals . They asked me no questions , for they had the perfect breeding of all dwellers in the wilds , but I could see they set me down as a kind of dealer , and I took some trouble to confirm their view . I spoke a lot about cattle , of which my host knew little , and I picked up from him a good deal about the local Galloway markets , which I tucked away in my memory for future use . At ten I was nodding in my chair , and the `` bed in the loft '' received a weary man who never opened his eyes till five o'clock set the little homestead a-going once more . They refused any payment , and by six I had breakfasted and was striding southwards again . My notion was to return to the railway line a station or two farther on than the place where I had alighted yesterday and to double back . I reckoned that that was the safest way , for the police would naturally assume that I was always making farther from London in the direction of some western port .