nine o’clock
`` We might all have a sandwich , '' suggested Dick ; `` I could do with one myself . '' `` Pa can explain , '' said Robina , `` that he has been called back to town on business . That will account for everything , and Little Mother will not be alarmed . '' `` She wo n't believe that business has brought him back at nine o'clock on a Saturday night , '' argued Dick ; `` you think that Little Mother has n't any sense . She 'll see there 's something up , and ask a hundred questions . You know what she is . '' `` Pa , '' said Robina , `` will have time while in the train to think out something plausible ; that 's where Pa is clever .