three o'clock in the afternoon before
_ So _ solitary , indeed , that we meet only one vacant boy of tender years , of whom , when we inquire the way , the wind absolutely refuses to allow us to hear a word of the broad Doric of his answer . At last -- after many bold and stout declarations on the part of Mr. Parker , that he _ will not _ be beaten -- that he knows the way as well as he does his A B C -- and that he will find it if he stays till midnight -- he is compelled , by the joint and miserable clamor of us all , to turn back -- -LRB- a frightful process , as the road is narrow , and the coach will not lock -RRB- -- to retrace our steps , and take up again the despised high-road , where we had left it . These manoeuvres have naturally taken some time . It is three o'clock in the afternoon before we at length reach the great spread of desolate , broad , moorland , which is our destination . For more than an hour , absolute silence has fallen upon us . Like poor Yorick , we are `` quite , quite chapfallen ! '' Even the gallant old gentleman could not make a dirty jest if he were to be shot for it .