about nine in the evening
`` I hope , '' Tommy mused , `` that he was n't forced to tell anything about the thumb marks when the man robbed him . '' `` I do n't think he would do that , '' suggested Frank . `` He would be apt to plead ignorance . '' The boys came , about nine in the evening , to the little station of Katalla , which is just a mite of a town sitting perched high above the Gulf of Alaska . The first thing they did was to make inquiries at the water front regarding transportation to Cordova . As they passed swiftly from point to point , consulting a half-breed here , an Esquimaux there , and an American trader at another point , they noticed that they were being followed . Finally Tommy drew back and waited until the man who seemed to be pursuing them came up .