nine o'clock
The journey from London , begun at three in the morning on the previous day , had been broken at Skipton , near Harrogate , where we had spent the night . Now , as the five of us -- for our driver was also , I discovered , a member of the force -- walked briskly along the narrow , winding lane in the direction of the park which surrounds Eldon Hall , the morning air was refreshing , also intensely invigorating . We looked little enough like London men , and I doubt whether anybody meeting us would for an instant have supposed that we were not what we intended that we should look like , namely well-to-do tenantry of Lord Cranmere 's bound for the scene of the coming-of-age festivities . It was barely nine o'clock , and at eleven the morning 's sports were to begin . Several carts overtook us , loaded with cheery fellows ; some of whom shouted rustic jests as they passed us by , which my companions were quick to acknowledge . We had walked , I suppose , rather less than a mile , when we suddenly came to a stile . `` Here 's our short cut , '' the man who walked beside me said , as he stopped abruptly .