one o’clock
at night
`` He 'll light up at the last moment , '' said Ethel , consolingly , to Harry ; but she was very uneasy herself , for she had set her heart on his surpassing Harvey Anderson . No more was heard all day . Tom went at dinner-time to see if he could pick up any news ; but he was shy , or was too late , and gained no intelligence . Dr. May and Richard talked of going to hear the speeches and viva voce examination in the afternoon -- objects of great interest to all Stoneborough men -- but just as they came home from a long day 's work , Dr. May was summoned to the next town , by an electric telegraph , and , as it was to a bad case , he did not expect to be at home till the mail-train came in at one o'clock at night . Richard begged to go with him , and he consented , unwillingly , to please Margaret , who could not bear to think of his `` fending for himself '' in the dark on the rail-road . Very long did the evening seem to the listening sisters . Eight , and no tidings ; nine , the boys not come ; Tom obliged to go to bed by sheer sleepiness , and Ethel unable to sit still , and causing Flora demurely to wonder at her fidgeting so much , it would be so much better to fix her attention to some employment ; while Margaret owned that Flora was right , but watched , and started at each sound , almost as anxiously as Ethel .