half after seven
And , side by side , at the head of the procession , perched on the shoulders of cheering friends , swayed the two half-backs , Neil Fletcher and Paul Gale . Two boys were sitting in the first-floor corner study in Haewood 's . Those who know the town of Hillton , New York , will remember Haewood 's as the large residence at the corner of Center and Village Streets , from the big bow-window of which the occupant of the cushioned seat may look to the four points of the compass or watch for occasional signs of life about the court-house diagonally across . To-night -- the bell in the tower of the town hall had just struck half after seven -- the occupants of the corner study were interested in things other than the view . I have said that they were sitting . Lounging would be nearer the truth ; for one , a boy of eighteen years , with merry blue eyes and cheeks flushed ruddily with health and the afterglow of the day 's excitement , with hair just the color of raw silk that took on a glint of gold where the light fell upon it , was perched cross-legged amid the cushions at one end of the big couch , two strong , tanned , and much-scarred hands clasping his knees . His companion and his junior by but two months , a dark-complexioned youth with black hair and eyes and a careless , good-natured , but rather wilful face , on which at the present moment the most noticeable feature was a badly cut and much swollen lower lip , lay sprawled at the other end of the couch , his chin buried in one palm .