eight o’clock
`` You may skate over there if you wish , '' she said , after a pause for consideration , pointing to a deserted spot at the leeward end of the pond , where the ice was too rough for comfortable skating . `` Nobly spoke ! '' he cried , with a grin , hurrying to the place indicated , where , skating being out of the question , he made a pair of slides , and gravely exercised himself upon them until his face glowed and his fingers tingled in the frosty air . The time passed quickly ; when Miss Ward sent for him to take off her skates there was a general groan and declaration that it could not possibly be half-past eight o'clock yet . Smilash knelt before the camp-stool , and was presently busy unbuckling and unscrewing . When Jane 's turn came , the camp-stool creaked beneath her weight . Agatha again remonstrated with her , but immediately reproached herself with flippancy before Smilash , to whom she wished to convey an impression of deep seriousness of character .