eight o'clock
It was half-past one when the boys retired , but it was another hour before Tom 's excited brain would permit him to sleep . His head was full of a big thought . Thomas went to sleep at last , and , worn out by the fatigue and excitement of the day , he slept long and soundly . His mother did not call him till eight o'clock , and it was nine before he reached the store of his employer , where the recital of the adventure of the preceding night proved to be a sufficient excuse for his non-appearance at the usual hour . In the course of the week Captain Benson had procured the necessary authority to raise a company for three years or for the war . When he exhibited his papers , he found twenty persons ready to put down their names . A recruiting office was opened at the store , and every day added to the list of brave and self-denying men who were ready to go forward and fight the battles of liberty and union .