four o'clock
`` No , I did not mean to , '' replied Nic . `` I shall go round and see that the men are at work all right , and then mount and be off just as if I were only going a little way . '' `` When will you be back ? '' `` About three or four o'clock at the latest . '' Directly after breakfast he went and saw that the men were at work , said a word or two of praise to the blacks , whose faces shone with satisfaction ; then going to the stable he saddled his horse , led it to the fence while he fetched his gun , mounted and rode off , unconscious of the fact that Brookes , who was busy in the wood-shed , was watching him . Samson also rested upon his spade in the garden , and gazed with a smile at the lithe , active lad as he cantered easily away , looking as if he and the beautiful little highly bred horse were one . Then Leather caught sight of the lad , and his face darkened , as he felt low-spirited and had an intense longing to go with him somewhere far away from the work about the station .