five
o'clock
Of a surety Mamselle Grace and her friends were welcome . He deplored the fact that they had insisted upon bringing their own provisions , but David , who suspected the old hunter 's larder to be none too well stocked with eatables , had quieted Jean 's remonstrances with the diplomatic assertion that the affair having been planned by the `` Eight Originals Plus Two , '' as they had now agreed to call themselves , and given in honor of the old hunter himself , it was their privilege to pay the piper . Jean had shaken his head rather dubiously over the miscellaneous heap of groceries that spread over at least a quarter of his floor , but his first protest had been laughingly silenced by the five sturdy foresters , who threatened to turn him out of house and home if he did not allow his friends to celebrate in peace . On this particular morning Jean had been up and doing since five o'clock . He had decorated his cabin walls with ground pine and evergreen , and as a last touch had , with many chuckles , suspended from the ceiling an unusually perfect piece of mistletoe , which he had tramped into Oakdale early that morning to secure . He had cleaned his rifle first , then swept and scrubbed his cabin floor , and the pine table off which he ate , until the most critical housekeeper could have found no fault with the shining cleanliness of the place . The rousing fire that he built in the big fireplace soon dried the floor , and after arranging his few household effects to the best advantage , Jean busied himself with getting in a good supply of wood before his young guests , who had set the hour of three o'clock for their arrival , should appear upon the scene .