eleven o’clock
`` I am not sure of that , Gregory . Still , I mean to do my best . '' In the evening the two boys attended a theatrical performance . It was not till after eleven o'clock that they emerged from the theatre , and slowly , not by the most direct way , sauntered home . There was no thought of danger in the mind of either , yet , as a fact , Hector had never in his life been exposed to peril so serious as that evening . Lurking behind in the shadow a shabby-looking man followed the two boys , keeping his eyes steadily on Hector . At a place specially favorable , our hero was startled by hearing a bullet whiz by his ear .