noon
To all people in all parts of the world , a time comes when to appropriate their neighbour 's goods is held not only justifiable , but even meritorious ; to Israelites in Egypt , Englishmen under a cloud in their own moist island , and to Orientals running away after a fight . By keeping the dun over thirty hours in my possession I had acquired a kind of prescriptive right to it , and now began to look on it as my very own ; subsequent experience of his endurance and other good qualities enables me to endorse the Oriental saying that a `` stolen horse carries you well . '' Bidding farewell to my companions in defeat , who had certainly not been frightened out of their imaginations , I rode forth just when it was beginning to grow light . Roads and houses I studiously avoided , travelling on at an easy gallop , which took me about ten miles an hour , till noon ; then I rested at a small _ rancho _ , where I fed and watered my horse and recruited my own energies with roast beef and bitter _ maté _ . On again till dark ; by that time I had covered about forty miles , and began to feel both hungry and tired . I had passed several _ ranchos _ and _ estancia _ houses , but was shy of seeking entertainment at any of them , and so went farther , only to fare worse . When the brief twilight was darkening to night I came upon a broad cart-track , leading , I suppose , to Montevideo from the eastern part of the country , and , seeing a long , low _ rancho _ near it , which I recognized as a _ pulperia _ , or store , by the flagstaff planted before it , I resolved to purchase some refreshment for myself , then to ride on a mile or two and spend the night under the stars -- a safe roof if an airy one .