eight o'clock
`` All right , Sis , tell him I 'll be right down , and to hold the wire ! '' At the time his younger sister , Josie , called him . Fred was sitting in his own room at home . It was around eight o'clock , and he had just been studying , so as to get such matters off his mind until Monday swung around again . The next day being Saturday , he and the other selected contestants for honors in the big race expected to cover the course at a pretty good pace , so as to familiarize themselves with its numerous shortcomings and advantages . Not wishing to keep anyone waiting , and suspecting that it must be either Colon or Bristles who had some sort of communication to make , Fred hurried down to the lower hail where the ` phone hung . `` Hello ! ''