about four o'clock
We do n't want security from Tom Connor : we know him too well . I 'd rather have his word than some men 's bond . You shall ride up to see him this afternoon , and you need n't hurry back to-day ; for that rain of last night has made the ground too wet to continue plowing ; and , if I 'm not mistaken , we 're in for another storm to-night , in which case the soil wo n't be in condition again for two or three days . '' I need hardly say that Joe and I were delighted to undertake this mission , and about four o'clock we reached Mrs. Appleby 's , where we put up our ponies in her stable . Then , as Tom would not be quitting work for another hour , instead of going direct to his house , we climbed up to the Pelican , intending to catch him there and walk home with him . Presently arriving at the great white dump of bleached porphyry to which the citizens of Sulphide were accustomed to point with pride as an indication of the immense amount of work it had taken to make the Pelican the important mine it was , we scrambled up to the engine-house , where for some minutes we stood watching the busy engine as it whirled to the surface the buckets of waste . Then , stepping over to the mouth of the shaft , we paused again to watch the top-men as they emptied the big buckets into the car and trundled the car itself to the edge of the dump , upset it , and trundled it back again for more .