four o'clock
`` I do n't know , '' confessed the Colonel , who had just placed Alora , now more self-possessed , in a chair . `` I was beginning to worry about her when you came in . She seldom leaves these rooms , except for a few moments , and even then she tells me , or leaves word , where she is going . I spoke to the clerk , when I returned , and he said she had left the hotel early this morning , and it 's now four o'clock . '' Josie 's smile faded and her face became grave . `` Now , who , '' she said , `` could have an object in stealing Mary Louise ? Complications threaten us in this matter and the first thing we must do is -- '' `` Oh , Alora ! ''