midnight
`` It will be another night-ride , '' he muttered , as he leaped into the saddle . `` I did hope to reach Salem early in the evening , and so I might have done had I been possessed of enough money to pay my ferriage . Master Revere would have given it to me , but I could not tell him that I , who had been received into the ranks of the Sons of Liberty , had not so much as a shilling . '' He was comparatively fresh when he drew rein in front of Master Cotton 's stable shortly before midnight , and although the time could well have been spent in slumber , he devoted an hour to caring for the weary steed who had borne him so bravely . To awaken Master Cotton was not a portion of Walter 's plan . That gentleman had shown himself to be of such a timid nature that the young messenger believed he would pot be pleased at receiving any information ; therefore , as soon as the horse had been cared for , he started out of Salem on foot , intending to make himself a bed on the ground when he should be within shelter of the woods . As he walked rapidly on in the cool night air , feeling refreshed because of the opportunity of stretching his legs after sitting in the saddle so long , the desire for slumber fled from his eyes .