about three o'clock in the afternoon
In a flash the otters disappeared . For several minutes the water in the pool continued to rock and heave -- and that was all . After a little , Baree drew himself back into the bushes and went on . It was about three o'clock in the afternoon , and the sun should still have been well up in the sky . But it was growing darker steadily , and the strangeness and fear of it all lent greater speed to Baree 's legs . He stopped every little while to listen , and at one of these intervals he heard a sound that drew from him a responsive and joyous whine . It was a distant howl -- a wolf 's howl -- straight ahead of him .