eleven
o'clock
`` It 's a mighty poor chance , if there 's one at all , '' the hunter replied . `` I should say by the fire there must be nigh a hundred of 'em now , and it 's likely that , by nightfall , there 'll be three times as many . As soon as it gets dusk they 'll creep out from the woods and form a circle round the house and gradually work up to it . Now let 's cook some vittles ; we 've had nothing to eat this morning yet , and it must be nigh eleven o'clock . I do n't see why we should be starved , even if we have got to be killed to-night . '' One of the party was left on watch on each side of the house , and the others gathered in the room below , where a fire was lit and the strips of dried deer flesh which they carried were soon frying over it . Harold admired the air of indifference with which his companions set about preparing the meat .