Ten o'clock
To this my mind is fully made up . So act your own good pleasure . '' The father and son then separated . Ten o'clock came on the next night , and Andrew had not returned . For the half hour preceding the stroke of the clock , Mr. Howland had walked the floor uneasily , with his ear harkening anxiously for the sound of the bell that marked his son 's return ; and , as the time drew nearer and nearer , he half repented the utterance of a law , that , if broken , could not , he feared , but result in injury to the disobedient boy . At last the clock struck ten . He paused and stood listening for over a minute ; then he resumed his walk again , and continued his measured paces for over ten minutes longer , intending to give his erring son the benefit of that space of time .