five o'clock
and my ill advice threw you into their company ! '' Captain Kenealy told her , in his brief way , that the circumstance was one of no import , except in so far as it had impeded his discharge of his duty to her . He then mounted the pony , which had been waiting for him more than half an hour . `` But it is five o'clock , '' said Lucy ; `` you will be too late for dinner . '' `` Dinner be dem -- d , '' drawled the man of action , and rode off like a flash . `` It is to be , then , '' said Lucy , and her heart ebbed . It had ebbed and flowed a good many times in the last hour or two .