midnight
The horse commenced chewing at some weeds which had sprung up along the roadside . Tom pulled out the sodden remains of the food Andrews had given him , gave the bread to the horse and ate the meat . Then , leading the horse , he walked along the road . He had passed Coal Mines shortly after midnight , but without coming upon Brown . Probably , he thought , Brown and his companion had found a house or barn in which they were spending the night , which meant that he was ahead of them and would be in Chattanooga when they arrived . A half-hour later he tried to remount , but the horse was too exhausted to bear his weight . They rested for a few minutes and then walked for another half-hour .