eleven at night
`` Nary a word , '' said `` Tom , '' and we left . The horses had been well fed by the negro whom I had left in charge of them , but had not been groomed . Seeing that , Andy stripped off his coat , and setting the black at work on one , with a handful of straw and pine leaves , commenced operations on the other , whose hair was soon as smooth and glossy as if it had been rubbed by an English groom . The remainder of the day passed without incident till eleven at night , when the Colonel returned from Wilmington . Moye had not been seen or heard of , and the Colonel 's trip was fruitless . While at Wilmington he sent telegrams , directing the overseer 's arrest , to the various large cities of the South , and then decided to return home , make arrangements preliminary to a protracted absence from the plantation , and proceed at once to Charleston , where he would await replies to his dispatches . Andy agreed with him in the opinion that Moye , in his weak state of health , would not take an overland route to the free states , but would endeavor to reach some town on the Mississippi , where he might dispose of the horse , and secure a passage up the river .