nearly noon
Again I ask you not to worry . '' But Mary Louise could n't help worrying . They lingered over the breakfast , but Alora did not join them . Then they waited around the hotel until nearly noon , without receiving a word from her . Finally Colonel Hathaway , too , became nervous . He telephoned the central police station to inquire if a young girl of Alora 's description had met with an accident . There was no record of such an accident , but in half an hour a detective came to the hotel and asked for the Colonel .