a quarter
after ten
`` And as we 've got our trail all laid out , and Seth knows the best places to try the mud , I guess we 'll make it . '' He was already thinking deeply and seriously . A sudden wild hope had flashed into Paul 's brain , and if all went well he meant to put it up to the other scouts after a while . When he looked at his watch he found that it was now just a quarter after ten ; and doing some lightning calculating he believed they could be out of the morass , discounting any serious trouble , by another hour . Then , supposing it took them forty-five minutes to get Mr. Anderson to the nearest farm house , even though they had to make a rude stretcher , and carry him , that brought the time to exactly noon . Could they really do it , make the eighteen miles that still lay between themselves and the field at Beverly , where they were expected to show up some time that day , if they hoped to win the prize ? Some how the very possibility of being put upon his mettle gave Paul a thrill .