nearly four
o'clock
`` Are n't we nearly there , Mr. Kendrick ? '' she asked quietly after a long period of silence on her part . `` We must be , '' he answered cheerfully and held his watch close to his nose as he scrutinized the dial in the moonlight . `` It 's nearly four o'clock . I fancy the moon is a little paler than it was , '' he added , craning his neck to look at it riding high above them , `` and the sky back there behind that hill -- it looks lighter , too , do n't you think ? Daylight ca n't be far off now , as it comes pretty early up here and we 're bound to reach the Thorlakson shanty soon , Miss Lawson . '' They trudged on again while he told her about Mrs. Thorlakson , the good-hearted Icelandic woman , and the giant Swede section-hand , Svenson , who was a friendly sort of elephant .