Six o'clock
`` There is no danger of the farmer finding us here , if we _ are _ on his side of the creek . And we need not be afraid to keep a fire going , because these rocks will shut out the light . '' It was now half past four o'clock , and when the tent had been pitched -- a difficult piece of work for two persons -- and the canoes unloaded , the boys began to prepare a good supper in readiness for Ned and Clay . Six o'clock came , and then seven , but the anxiously expected ones did not appear on the other side of the creek . Randy and Nugget were too hungry to wait any longer , so they ate their supper by twilight . When it grew a little darker they built a roaring fire at the edge of the water . There was an abundance of driftwood farther up the slope , which had been left there at various times by the high water .