midnight
` Tisn ' so bad as all that , '' says Jim , as soothing as he could ; but he thought it best to tell nothing about the rumpus . `` If 't is on the wings of an eagle , I must fly to her ! '' cries the Parson , and he hurried indoors and called out for a chaise and pair . He had some trouble in persuading a post-boy to turn out at such an hour , but before midnight the poor man was launched and rattling away eastward , chafing at the hills and singing out that he 'd pay for speed , whatever it cost . And at Grampound in the grey of the morning he almost ran slap into a chaise and pair proceeding westward , and likewise as if its postilion wanted to break his neck . Parson Polwhele stood up in his vehicle and looked out ahead . The two chaises had narrowly missed doubling each other into a cocked hat ; in fact , the boys had pulled up within a dozen yards of smash , and there stood the horses face to face and steaming .