six o'clock
`` Good-bye , sir ! '' I cried heartily , swinging my new hat in a grand bow . * * * * * At three o'clock in the afternoon , having ridden hard and far without bite or sup , I came out in a little hamlet huddled about the great London road where it ran along the hem of a forest , and drew rein before the `` Seven Stars . '' I was to be in presence with my report at six o'clock , and , as Derby was only fifteen miles off and the road one of the best , there was ample time for Sultan and me to take the rest and refreshment we both stood in need of . I was , too , in need of quiet and leisure to get my report straightened out in my mind ready for delivery . The largeness and looseness of my commission left everything to my discretion , with the vexatious result that I had discovered nothing . I had , indeed , carried out my orders .