about three o'clock
asked James Rice , after a painful pause . `` Yes , '' said Angus , with exaggerated ease , affecting not to notice the significance of the question . `` Jack went to Nelson to-day , and he ai n't back yet . He went about three o'clock , '' went on Angus , endeavoring to patch up a shaky story with a little interesting detail . `` He took over a bunch of pigs for me that I am shippin ' into Winnipeg , and he was goin ' to bring back some lumber . '' `` I was in Nelson to-day , Angus , '' said John Moore , sternly ; `` just came from there , and I did not see John Thomas . '' Angus , though fallen and misguided , was not entirely unregenerate ; a lie sat awkwardly on his honest lips , and now that his feeble effort at deception had miscarried , he felt himself adrift on a boundless sea .