about noon
If it was n't for administerin ' town business right I 'd have got him a spider-web and let him sail away on it . As it is , I reckon I 've scared him about twenty-four hours ' worth . He 'll stick there in torment for near that time . But about noon to-morrow he 'll get away unless I scare him again or ball-and-chain him with a thread and a buckshot . '' `` I 'm interested in freaks , '' said Hiram , `` and I 'll take this case off your hands and see that the livin ' skeleton do n't get away until we decide to bury him or put him in a show where he can earn an honest livin ' . Skeletons ai n't what they used to be for a drawin ' - card , but I know of two or three punkin circuiters that might take him on . '' In view of that still looming incubus of the unfinished town report , Cap'n Sproul accepted Hiram 's offer with alacrity .