a quarter past four
Three men riding fit to kill their horses . '' `` That 'll do , '' Ezra shouted ; and away they went once more down the broad white road . They passed Bluewater 's Drift at two in the morning , and were at Van Hayden 's farm at half-past . At three they left the Modder River far behind them , and at a quarter past four they swept down the main street of the little township of Jacobsdal , their horses weak and weary and all mottled with foam . There was a police patrol in the street . `` Has any one passed ? '' cried the sergeant .