four o'clock
`` No , no , '' said be in his decided way , `` I must get back to the shanty . There 's been only half a day 's work done to-day , I 'll warrant you , because I was n't on hand to keep the beggars at it . Why , they 'll lie abed till mid-day to-morrow if I 'm not there to rouse them out of their bunks . '' Whatever Johnston said he stuck to , so there was no use in argument , and shortly after four o'clock he and Frank tucked themselves snugly into the jumper again and drove away from the depot , Stewart shouting after them , -- `` If you change your mind after you 've gone a couple of miles , do n't feel delicate about coming back . I wo n't laugh at you . '' Johnston 's only answer was a grim smile and a crack of the whip over the horse 's hind-quarters that sent him off at full gallop , the snow flying in clouds from his plunging feet into the faces of his passengers . The hours crept by as the sleigh made its slow way over the heavy ground , and Frank , as might be expected after the big dinner he had eaten , began to feel very sleepy .