three o'clock
But even the minnows had almost entirely forsaken that shallow at this time of day , for after working industriously a whole hour he had only succeeded in trapping three . One of these he used at once , but it brought no success , for the hour was now near noon . Dick munched at his lunch and watched his floats pensively as the time crept on . Up to three o'clock he had had only one more bite , but he managed to land the late diner , which proved to be at least the equal of his first capture . Then came another long wait . About four he concluded to try another minnow , hoping that the bass were arousing from their mid-day nap and would feel like partaking of a bite . The river was very pretty just here , and the current rather slow , for the banks had widened ; only for this deep hole the stream was shallow , and since the rains had been few and far between of late Dick fancied he could almost wade across to the opposite shore should the occasion arise .