nearly four o'clock
And there was a matter as to which he was not altogether well pleased with the dean , although he was so conscious of his own peculiarities as to know that he could hardly trust himself for a judgment . But , at any rate , he would apply to the bishop , -- to the bishop whom he had just left prostrate in his palace , -- when the time of his trial should be close at hand . Full of such thoughts as these he went along almost gaily , nor felt the fatigue of the road till he had covered the first five miles out of Barchester . It was nearly four o'clock , and the thick gloom of the winter evening was making itself felt . And then he began to be fatigued . He had not as yet eaten since he had left his home in the morning , and he now pulled a crust out of his pocket and leaned against a gate as he crunched it . There were still ten miles before him , and he knew that such an addition to the work he had already done would task him very severely .