four o'clock
`` They 're not anywhere here ! '' reported the scouts . `` Then they must have walked on , '' said Miss Mitchell . `` Beata knew she had to be back by four o'clock . I expect we shall catch them up on the road . Come along ! '' -LSB- Illustration : `` WHY DID N'T ` EE FASTEN UP THE CHAIN '' -RSB- So the party set off at full speed , all unwitting that four disconsolate maidens were marooned on the farther side of the river , waiting for some faerie boat to ferry them across .