twelve o'clock
Nothing like that now ! Besides , I want to look over the engine . You go and attend to things -- I 'll be here when you get back . '' A little after twelve o'clock , a boy arrived from the other side of the river , carrying Norman 's dinner in a basket . The messenger was from the Alberta Hotel and he also carried a note from Paul announcing that no answer had yet been received to Colonel Howell 's telegram . As the afternoon wore slowly away , Norman became more and more apprehensive . It was nearly six o'clock when Paul came in sight , breathless and exhausted from his rapid climb up the hill .