four o'clock
Before them spread the beautiful Coast country , sloping with many a dip and hollow and rolling ridge and rounding hill westward to the sea . At the first ranch house they stopped . A short hour 's rest with breakfast for man and horse , and they were away again . For dinner Abe drew rein in a beautiful little village in the heart of the rich farming country and at four o'clock , from the summit of a low hill , he saw the ocean , with the smoke of San Felipe dark against the blue of sky and water . There were yet three hours of riding . The tired man straightened himself in the saddle , the horse felt the motion and responded with a slight quickening of the movements of those wonderful muscles that still worked so steadily and smoothly under the buckskin coat . The animal seemed to realize with the man that the end of the journey was in sight .