nine o'clock
But here he comes , and can speak for himself . '' The son now joined in the family deliberations , and learning , with surprise and gratification , what had occurred during the eventful day , joyfully fell in with his father 's proposition ; when it was soon decided that the latter should take half the money that day given to Mrs. Elwood , to lay out in a lot of land and house , and immediately proceed on his journey . Whatever Mark Elwood had once firmly decided on , he was always prompt and energetic in executing . Before nine o'clock that evening , his knapsack of clothing was made up for a journey on foot , which , contrary to the wishes of his wife and son , he decided should be his mode of travelling . He then went to bed , slept six hours , rose , dressed , bade his family good-by , turned his back on the now loathed city , and , by sunrise next morning , was far on his way towards his designated home among the distant wilds of the North . `` There is a pleasure in the pathless woods , There is a rapture in the lonely shore , There is society where none intrudes , -- I love not man the less , but nature more . '' Once more in the green wilderness !