one o'clock
He wondered that the boy should go away and leave him for so long a time alone in his illness . The noon hour came , but Ralph did not come . Andy Gilgallon returned and tried to divert the man 's mind with stories of the fire , but the attempt was in vain . At one o'clock they made a pretence of sending Mrs. Maloney 's little girl to look for Ralph , in order to quiet Bachelor Billy 's growing apprehension . But he remained very anxious and ill at ease . It struck him that there was something peculiar about the conduct of the people who were with him when Ralph 's name was mentioned or his absence discussed . A growing fear had taken possession of his mind that something was wrong , and so terribly wrong that they dared not tell it to him .