three o'clock
Bob Middleton might do , only he 's such an impudent fellow . I hate having anything to say to him . ' ` Oh , I 'll transmit your royal commands to him , if that 's all , ' said Johnnie ; ` only say yes , and I 'll look him up this afternoon : perhaps he might go to Mrs. Western 's for us at once . ' Honorius gave a reluctant consent , and accordingly Johnnie appeared in the desert soon after three o'clock , accompanied by a youth of fifteen , very raggedly attired , and with a face which was an extraordinary compound of ugliness and roguery . Bob undertook for a shilling to fetch all the gravel from Mrs. Western 's , and set off at once for the first load , with which he returned ere long . He came and went several times ; but at last such a long interval elapsed between his going and returning , that the boys began to be alarmed . ` He 's gone off with the wheelbarrow , I do believe , ' said Honorius . '