four o’clock in the afternoon
And when he went to bed at nine o'clock , he could hardly sleep for thinking of the wonderful things which had happened this day . The coming circus and the great Hut Club kept him awake until far after ten , so that he got up too late for Sunday school the next morning , and was punished accordingly . The next week was a hard one at school , and the boys had but little time to devote to the club . But after four o'clock in the afternoon they sometimes got together and did various things which improved their club-house . Some very fair chairs were constructed from empty soap boxes , and various contrivances were put together to guard against the intrusion of any East Siders or tramps while they were away at school . There was no padlock used , and any one coming up to the hut would imagine it a simple thing to enter -- until he tried . But the boys had fixed a secret cord which , when pulled , shifted the bar inside , and every boy was sworn not to betray the existence of the cord .