about six o'clock
All but Aleck , who , for the first time since he had been with us at Braycombe , was not in his usual place . My father missed him , and turned to ask me where he was . `` I expect he has gone out , papa , '' I replied ; `` he meant to go down to the shore to look for his boat . '' `` If you please , sir , '' said Bennet the footman , `` I saw Master Gordon quite early this morning , maybe about six o'clock ; he telled me he was going down to look after the ship . '' Family prayer was concluded and breakfast began , and still Aleck did not appear . As he had no watch , it was not surprising that he should mistake the time to a certain extent ; but we all wondered he should be so very late , and at last my father began to feel uneasy . `` He must have been a long way off not to have heard the eight o'clock bell , '' he said ; `` yet he 's a careful boy ; it seems unlikely he should come to any harm . ''