about three o'clock
`` Who saw them last , and where were they ? '' Many more such questions were uttered , while some persons ran one way and some another . Several young men seized their guns and fired several shots in quick succession , but Mr Ross stopped them as quickly as possible . Mr Ross , although alarmed , was the first to get some order among them , and on the closest questioning it came out that none were certain that they had seen the children since about three o'clock , and that was when they were emptying their little dishes of berries into the larger receptacles . Then , excited by the contest , they had rushed off for more . A rumbling of thunder in the west startled them , and so , prompt must be their movements . To the point where the little ones were last seen a dozen or more had hurried , and ere they scattered in the forest to begin the search they were told that the firing of the guns would be the signal of success or failure .