five
o'clock
I was horribly frightened , but I tried to look calm . Then sharp and quick came the one word ` Go ! ' And like arrows from a bow , off we all started . I had ridden over the whole course the day but one before , on a mountain pony , with an observant eye and my sedulous American -- rising at five o'clock , so as not to excite undue attention ; and I therefore knew beforehand the exact route we were to follow ; but I confess when I saw the Prussian lieutenant and one of my other competitors dash forward at a pace that simply astonished me , that fifty pounds seemed to melt away in the dim abyss of the Ewigkeit . I gave up all for lost . I could never make the running against such practised cyclists . -LSB- Illustration : DO N'T SCORCH , MISS ; DO N'T SCORCH . -RSB-