nine o'clock
Depend upon it , girls , that part of the message ca n't be true . I 'm going to try to try a long-distance call to town myself . '' The doctor was no more successful than Rilla had been , but his point of view cheered them all a little , and helped them through the evening . And at nine o'clock a long-distance message came through at last , that helped them through the night . `` The line broke only in one place , before St. Quentin , '' said the doctor , as he hung up the receiver , `` and the British troops are retreating in good order . That 's not so bad . As for the shells that are falling on Paris , they are coming from a distance of seventy miles -- from some amazing long-range gun the Germans have invented and sprung with the opening offensive .