nine o'clock
That neither was his tiger he was presently persuaded , but that one or both were fairly large seemed equally assured . It was certainly not a time to leave the tree . And while the reflection that , perhaps , the silent visitors were leopards was presented to Grenville 's mind , and a momentary thought of slaying the pair by igniting his fuse became a strong temptation , he contented himself by staring more or less blindly down upon the place where they seemed to be , and bided his time as before . At nine o'clock it seemed , to the cramped and impatient hunter in the tree , that ages had passed since he bade good-night to Elaine and came to this lonely vigil . There were sounds in abundance about him now , arising from time to time . Some were the cries of the lesser beasts , in the clutches or jaws of their captors ; some were sounds of munching . All of them indicated rather grimly the tiger 's absence from the scene .