twelve o'clock
The stage coach rumbled off by the road it had come , bearing with it the two countrywomen , and leaving a pile of baggage for Chickaree . The miller came down and set his mill agoing , excusing himself to his guests by saying that there was a good lot of corn to be ground and the people would be along for it . So the mill became no longer a place of rest , and Miss Hazel and her guardian were driven out into the woods by the rumble and dust and jar of machinery . Do what they would , it was a long morning to twelve o'clock ; when the mill ceased its rumble and the miller went home to his dinner , and the weary and warm loiterers came back to the shade of the mill floor . Then the sound of wheels was heard at last ; the first that had broken the solitude that day ; and presently at the mill door Rollo presented himself , looking as if sunshine agreed with him . He shook hands with Mr. Falkirk , but gave Wych Hazel his old stately salutation . ` I could not come sooner , ' he said .