two o'clock
Ned sat for a long time on the screened porch with the splendor of the tropical night about him . The jungle came nearly to the walls of the house on all sides , save in front , where a little clearing had been made , and the noises , the creature and vine talk of the thickets , came to his ears like low music . He listened constantly for the footsteps of the absent boys , but for a long time there was no break in the lilt of the forest . Then -- it must have been two o'clock -- he heard the quick beat of running feet , and directly Gastong , as Jack had fancifully named his new acquaintance , came spurting into the cleared space . He stopped running when he reached the middle of the cutaway spot and , seeing Ned on the porch , beckoned to him . Ned was off the porch in an instant , standing by the exhausted boy , who was now on the ground , supporting his swaying figure with one hand clutching the long grass . `` What is it , '' asked Ned .