six
o'clock
It took ten men with levers to roll one of the boulders at its base . Men still cast stones upon it as they pass . The next morning came a note to the cottage , in which Sercombe thanked the Macruadh for changing his mind , and said that , although he was indeed glad to have secured such a splendid head , he would certainly have stalked another deer , had he known the chief set such store by the one in question . It was handed to Alister as he sat at his second breakfast with his mother and Ian : even in winter he was out of the house by six o'clock , to set his men to work , and take his own share . He read to the end of the first page with curling lip ; the moment he turned the leaf , he sprang from his seat with an exclamation that startled his mother . `` The hound ! -- I beg my good dogs ' pardon , one and all ! ''