nine o'clock
Well-bred Anglo-maniacs both , but gentlemen withal , and courteous to the ladies . Mr. Topeka was a widower , John C. Hannibal was understood to be looking for a wife . They came , they dined , and they retired to Sam Wyndham 's rooms to don their boots and skating clothes . At nine o'clock the remaining ladies arrived , and then the whole party got into a great sleigh and were driven rapidly out of town over the smooth snow to Jamaica Pond . John Harrington had not come , and only three persons missed him -- Joe Thorn , Mrs. Sam , and Pocock Vancouver . The ice had been cut away in great quantities for storing and the thaw had kept the pond open for a day or two . Then came the sharpest frost of the winter , and in a few hours the water was covered with a broad sheet of black ice that would bear any weight .