noon
But what are your foot-ploddings to the joy which lifts you into air with the bound of your mettled steed ? But there are times when an iron and stern sadness locks , as it were , within itself our capacities of enjoyment ; and the song of the birds , and the green freshness of the summer morning , and the glad motion of the eager horse , brought neither relief nor change to the musings of the young adventurer . He rode on for several miles without noticing anything on his road , and only now and then testifying the nature of his thoughts and his consciousness of solitude by brief and abrupt exclamations and sentences , which proclaimed the melancholy yet exciting subjects of his meditations . During the heat of the noon , he rested at a small public-house about -- miles from town ; and resolving to take his horse at least ten miles farther before his day 's journey ceased , he remounted towards the evening and slowly resumed his way . He was now entering the same county in which he first made his appearance in this history . Although several miles from the spot on which the memorable night with the gypsies had been passed , his thoughts reverted to its remembrance , and he sighed as he recalled the ardent hopes which then fed and animated his heart . While thus musing , he heard the sound of hoofs behind him , and presently came by a sober-looking man , on a rough , strong pony , laden -LRB- besides its master 's weight -RRB- with saddle-bags of uncommon size , and to all appearance substantially and artfully filled .