ten o'clock
and he told her how he had been looking everywhere , and she burst out crying . `` I know he 's fallen into the canal and got drowned , or something , '' and she wrung her hands together ; and then he said that Hen Billard and Archy Hawkins thought Jim Leonard would know , and he had only stopped to see whether Pony had happened to come in , and he was going straight to Jim Leonard 's mother 's house ; and Pony 's mother said : `` Oh , go , go , go ! '' and fairly pushed him out of the house . By this time it was ten o'clock and going on eleven , and all the town was as still as death , except the dogs . Pony 's father kept on until he got down to the river-bank , where Jim Leonard 's mother lived , and he had to knock and knock before he could make anybody hear . At last Jim Leonard 's mother poked her head out of the window and asked who was there , and Pony 's father told her . He said : `` Is Jim at home , Mrs. Leonard ? ''