About five o'clock
Here we be ; here all this mess is . We best hold tight . '' So Peter and Polly `` held tight '' while inwardly they feared that King 's Forest was in deadly peril and that they had let the unsuspecting people in for who could tell -- what ? About five o'clock Kathryn came upon the scene . Her late encounter had left her careless as to her physical appearance ; she was a bit bedraggled and her low shoes and silk hose -- a great deal of the latter showing -- were evidences against her respectability . `` I 'm Mr. Northrup 's fiancée , '' she explained , and sank into a chair by the hearth . Aunt Polly did not know what she meant , but in that she belonged to Northrup , she must be recognized , and plainly she was not Chinese !