ten
o'clock
Irritated , as he always was when crossed in the slightest degree , he went downstairs and found the kitchen empty . `` Her cub of a nephew has been staying to supper with her , guzzling and cramming himself at my expense , '' he thought , `` and now she has walked home with him ! It 's perfect nonsense to go after a girl of sixteen and a boy of thirteen . As if they could n't walk along a country road at ten o'clock ! Still , it may look odd if some one does n't go , and I ca n't lock the house till they come , anyway . '' He drew on his great coat , put on his cap , and started down the lane in no good humor . It was a crisp , starlight night and the ground was freezing fast .