about five o'clock
For almost a year he has carefully laid aside every penny , and but half the necessary sum has been saved . How to get the remainder is the difficulty . He never asks his mother for money ; he is too independent for that ; besides , he has always been taught to rely on his own resources , and he has made up his mind that , if he can not _ earn _ his boat , he will go without it . Three or four days after the commencement of our story , Frank might have been seen , about five o'clock one pleasant morning , seated on the wharf in front of the house , with Brave at his side . The question how he should get his boat had been weighing heavily upon his mind , and he had come to the conclusion that something must be done , and that speedily . `` Well , '' he soliloquized , `` my chance of getting a sail-boat this season is rather slim , I 'm afraid . But I 've made up my mind to have one , and I wo n't give it up now .