half past eight in the evening
Harris and I were included in all the descriptions ; how we were coming along ; how Hans Gross shouted ; how we looked up startled ; how we saw Peter coming like a cannon-shot ; how judiciously we got out of the way , and let him come ; and with what presence of mind we picked him up and brushed him off and set him on a rock when the performance was over . We were as much heroes as anybody else , except Peter , and were so recognized ; we were taken with Peter and the populace to Peter 's mother 's cottage , and there we ate bread and cheese , and drank milk and beer with everybody , and had a most sociable good time ; and when we left we had a handshake all around , and were receiving and shouting back LEB ' WOHL 's until a turn in the road separated us from our cordial and kindly new friends forever . We accomplished our undertaking . At half past eight in the evening we stepped into Oppenau , just eleven hours and a half out of Allerheiligen -- one hundred and forty-six miles . This is the distance by pedometer ; the guide-book and the Imperial Ordinance maps make it only ten and a quarter -- a surprising blunder , for these two authorities are usually singularly accurate in the matter of distances . -LSB- I Protect the Empress of Germany -RSB- That was a thoroughly satisfactory walk -- and the only one we were ever to have which was all the way downhill . We took the train next morning and returned to Baden-Baden through fearful fogs of dust .