seven o’clock
And so they waited and watched through the livelong night . Hamish was at work ; the police were at work ; Tom was at work : but neither sign nor trace could be found of Charles Channing . A grey dusky morning , enveloped in fog , succeeded to the fine night . Before seven o'clock -- so watchful and alert are boys when mischief is afloat -- most of those who had been in the conspiracy were assembled , and waiting round the schoolroom doors . Generally , they could tear up at the twelfth moment . They would not have missed the sight of Charles Channing 's arrival for half-a-crown apiece , so curious were they to see how he looked , after his fright . As it happened , it was not at any of their homes that inquiries had been made the previous night ; not one of them was , to say , intimate with Charley : they were most of them older than he .