9 o'clock
`` It was n't the professor 's fault , anyhow . He just got lost . '' `` Well , he picked a mighty inconvenient time to do it in , '' snapped Old Billee , who was always a bit raspy before breakfast . The sun soon shone warm and glorious , a little too glorious in fact , for it was very hot after 9 o'clock when the trail was again taken up . Daylight did not make the `` signs '' any more plain -- in fact , there was absolutely no trail to follow . All they could do was to keep on , making inquiries here and there at different ranches about suspicious characters . `` We have n't seen any signs of the professor 's party , '' remarked Nort , when they stopped at noon for a `` snack . ''