about four o'clock
`` I wish we knew what kind of an animal it is . We had better go home and bring the Professor back with us in the morning . '' So taking note of the surroundings , to familiarize themselves with the location , they hurried back to the river , and rafted themselves over . The Cataract home was reached about four o'clock , after one of the most adventurous days spent on the island , although , in some respects , not as exciting as their earlier experiences . They had begun to be veterans . They were not merely boys . Naturally , the Professor heard a stirring tale , and when it was all told over and over again , he told them he thought that undoubtedly the region beyond the river would turn out to be their hunting preserves , a statement which the boys did not forget to profit by , as we shall see later on .