about nine o'clock
Gettin ' no answer from his audience did n't bother him a bit ; for passin ' out the monologue is his strong suit . Not to seem partial , he trails down Charlie and Helen and converses with them too . Course , all this occurrin ' outside , I could n't watch everything that took place ; but I sits in the lib ` ry with Sadie a lot more contented than I 'd been before that week . And when Marjorie drifts in alone , along about nine o'clock , and goes to drummin ' on the piano , I smiles . Ten minutes later Helen appears too ; and it 's only when neither of the boys show up that I begins wonderin ' . I asks no questions ; but goes out on a scoutin ' trip . There 's nobody on the veranda at all .