about five o'clock
Then they went into the town together , and slept that night in a hotel . Their troubles were over , and , what was more , Wyllard , who pledged the rest to secrecy , fancied that what had become of the schooner would remain a mystery . Harvest had commenced at the Range , and the clashing binders were moving through the grain when Hawtrey sat one afternoon in Wyllard 's room . It was about five o'clock , and every man belonging to the homestead was toiling , bare-armed and grimed with dust , among the yellow oats , but Hawtrey sat at a table gazing with a troubled face at the litter of papers in front of him . He wore a white shirt and store clothes , which was distinctly unusual in case of a Western farmer at harvest time , and Edmonds , the mortgage-jobber , leaned back in a big chair quietly watching him . Edmonds had called at a singularly inconvenient time , and Hawtrey was anxious to get rid of him before the arrival of the guests that he expected . It was Sally 's birthday , and , since she took pleasure in simple festivities of any kind , he had arranged to celebrate it at the Range .