about five
o’clock
All his reflection had failed to suggest the subject so interesting to her as to bring forth her unconventional note , but it was enough for him that his presence was desired . As to the future -- he would deal with that when he came to it . As evening approached the horses began their usual procedure of turning their heads homeward at the end of each furrow . Beginning about five o'clock , they had a habit of assuming that each furrow was obviously the last one for the day , and when the firm hand on the lines brought them sharply back to position they trudged on with an apologetic air which seemed to say that of course they were quite willing to work another hour or two but they supposed their master would want to be on his way home . Today , however , he surprised them , and the first time they turned their heads he unhitched , and , throwing himself lightly across Prince 's ample back , drove them to their stables . Grant prepared his supper of bacon and eggs and fried potatoes , bread and jam and black tea , and ate it from the kitchen table as was his habit except on state occasions . Sometimes a touch of the absurdity of his behavior would tickle his imagination -- he , who might dine in the midst of wealth and splendor , with soft lights beating down upon him , soft music swelling through arching corridors , soft-handed waiters moving about on deep , silent carpetings , perhaps round white shoulders across the table and the faint smell of delicate perfumes -- that he should prefer to eat from the white oilcloth of his kitchen table was a riddle far beyond any ordinary intellect .