midday
`` Well , I suppose we must go on as best we can with two horses now , for the first two are good for nothing . '' And in the spirit of a true driver he stuck his whip beneath him , as being a thing for which there was now no further use , and resumed his argument with the coachman about the inefficiency of smiths in general . `` As soon as we reach Oroshaza , we 'll get two fresh horses ; we ought to be getting there now . '' Yet the steeple of Oroshaza was , as yet , scarcely visible and midday was already approaching . There was no intermediate station where they could change horses . Half an hour later Mr. Gerzson dashed his clay pipe against the wheel of the coach and swore that he would be damned if ever such a silly-fool thing had ever befallen him before , for now the thill horse also began to limp . Naturally , that also was found to have been pricked .