midnight
I pulled down the window , and , putting out my head , hailed the driver , who was apparently asleep upon his box . A thin , persistent drizzle was falling , the ill-kept road was wet with recent rain , and the wretched horse was jogging along at a shuffling trot at a rate of perhaps four miles an hour . `` Wake up there , '' I cried , `` and get along ! I do n't want to reach Richmond after midnight . '' `` All right , '' cabby responded , and applied the whip with such effect that for a hundred yards or so he contrived to get a decent pace out of the weary brute he drove . By this time I had fallen back once more into the perplexity of my own thoughts , but in a while I woke to the fact that we had fallen back to our old pace , and I made a new effort to stimulate the driver . He in turn made an effort to stimulate his steed , and so we went on , bumping in the shallow ruts of the road , occasionally standing still , and at our best scarcely exceeding the pace of a smart walk .