ten
o'clock
But he concluded that they might safely go on searching . Mrs. Westfall found Christopher at once in the green shawl of Anna Maria Dow , but all was not achieved thus in the twinkling of an eye . Mr. McLean had , it appeared , as James Westfall lugubriously pointed out , not merely `` swapped the duds ; he had shuffled the whole doggone deck ; '' and they cursed this Satanic invention . The fathers were but of moderate assistance ; it was the mothers who did the heavy work ; and by ten o'clock some unsolved problems grew so delicate that a ladies ' caucus was organized in a private room , -- no admittance for men , -- and what was done there I can only surmise . During its progress the search party returned . It had not found Mr. McLean . It had found a tree with a notice pegged upon it , reading , `` God bless our home ! ''