ten o'clock
Indeed , with the stately forest trees rising up all around them , and shutting out that queer building on the point of land overlooking the broad valley beyond , it seemed an ideal spot for making a camp . They were not long in deciding on where they would stay , and two of the fellows , Alec and Monkey Stallings , were dispatched back to carry their personal belongings to the new site . Alec was anxious to get to work developing some of the rolls of films he had taken , in the expectation of making good any failures . By ten o'clock everything had been gathered in the new camp , which was situated not much more than a quarter of a mile away from the deserted mansion . The boys believed they could already call their mission a success ; and after Alec had been heard from in connection with his photographic work , this would be set down as a certainty . `` Listen ! '' called out Monkey Stallings about this time , for he happened to have remarkable hearing .