eleven o'clock
Carr . '' The last Chapter , but a good Deal in it : a free Lodging for the Night , with a little Speech by Mr. Clerkinwell : then , how Kaiser and I take a long Journey , and how we never go that Way again . When I knew what the message said I saw that a train must have got to No. 15 , and I jumped up and started for the door ; then I ran back again and slowly spelled out O. K. on the instrument , and without waiting to see what came in reply hurried over to the hotel as fast as I could go . It was now eleven o'clock , and though the storm was as furious as ever I was determined to set out and try to reach the siding . If it had been before the thaw , with all of the winter snow on the ground , I never should have thought of doing it , but most of the old drifts were either gone or frozen so hard that they could be walked over without the least fear of breaking down ; and as for the new drifts they were soft and not yet deep . I first thought of taking the horses and large sleigh and of keeping on the railroad track , but I remembered that there were a good many culverts and little bridges which I could not cross that way , and I knew to leave the track would mean to be lost instantly . So I saw that the best I could do was to take Kaiser and the small sled .