eight o'clock
`` But , good Lord , Skippy -- '' `` Do n't try to stop me . My mind 's made up . '' `` But I say -- '' `` I 've given my _ word _ , '' said Skippy tragically . `` If I 'm not back by eight o'clock to-morrow morning , mail this letter to my mother and give this to the Doctor . Good-bye . God bless you -- and I 'll pay you back the first money I earn . '' HE recovered the shoebrush from under the window of Tabby , the young assistant house-master , and tucking it into his pocket , skirted the outer limits of the school , dodged behind a fence , and creeping on all-fours , made a wide detour via the pond and rejoined the high road to Trenton which lay five dusty miles away .