three o'clock in the afternoon
One thing troubled me in our escape , which was this , that my nag -LRB- or rather , Master Udal 's -RRB- , and my cloak were both gone a - hunting with the mayor . However , we could not both have ridden the one , or worn the other , and we might perchance run less risk without them than with them . As for the college cap and gown , my comrade nailed them with our keeper 's two daggers on the outside of the door when we left , in token that here he bade farewell for ever to the life of a scholar . It was scarcely three o'clock in the afternoon when we made good our escape . Before sundown , thanks to my comrade 's knowledge of the country -LRB- which was all the more wonderful that he had been only two months at Oxford -RRB- , we had fetched a wide circuit round the north of the city , and were safe on the Berkshire side of the river beyond Wightham , on the road to Abingdon . For four hours my comrade had paced at my side without a word , and I , finding nothing to say , had been silent too . When , however , all danger from our pursuers was past , and night invited us to halt at the first convenient shelter , he stopped in the road and broke silence .