five o'clock
Tomorrow you may have to ride straight to certain points , with orders ; and it may save important time if you are thoroughly acquainted with the ground , and position . '' After a couple of hours ' study of the staff map , so as to know every little by-lane and hamlet , for ten miles on either side , Ralph mounted his horse and went for a long ride . When he returned , Colonel Tempe told him that General Chanzy was gone over to General D'Aurelle 's quarters , to arrange the details ; and that the attack was to take place the next day . At five o'clock the general returned ; and Colonel Tempe and the chief of his staff were occupied with him , for two hours , in drawing up the specific orders for each corps . Colonel Tempe had not been out , all day ; and he therefore offered his horse to Ralph , in order that Ralph 's own might be fresh for the next day . Four staff officers set off in various directions with the dispatches ; and Ralph congratulated himself upon having been upon the ground he was now traversing once before that day as , even with that previous acquaintance , it was hard work to find the way through the darkness , from the snow altering the general appearance and apparent distance of each object . Thanks , however , to his ride of the morning , he reached the various corps to which he was dispatched without any serious mistakes in his way ; and got back to headquarters by eleven o'clock .