nearly twelve o'clock
She was not making a call -- she was going on business . She did not mean to ask for Mrs. Brand even , first of all ; she intended to ask for Mr. Cuthbert Brand . Wyvis would probably be out ; but Cuthbert , with his sedentary habits and his slight lameness , was more likely to be at home painting in the brilliant morning light than out of doors . It was nearly twelve o'clock when she reached her destination . She went through the leafless woods , for that was the shortest way and the pleasantest -- although she had thought little of pleasantness when she came out , but still it was good to hear the brittle twigs snap under her feet , and note the slight coating of frost that made the rims of the dead leaves beautiful -- and it was hardly a surprise to her to hear a child 's laugh ring out on the air at the very spot where , months before , she and Nora had found little Julian Brand . A moment later the boy himself came leaping down the narrow woodland path towards her with a noisy greeting ; and then -- to Janetta 's vexation and dismay -- instead of nurse or grandmother , there emerged from among the trees the figure of the child 's father , Wyvis Brand . He had a healthier and more cheerful look than when she saw him last : he was in shooting coat and knickerbockers , and he had a gun in his hand and a couple of dogs at his heels .