nine o'clock
I want you to go to the Lescotts in New York . In a year , you can come back -- if you want to ; but you must promise that . '' `` I promise , '' she reluctantly yielded . It was half-past nine o'clock when Samson South and Sidney Callomb rode side by side into Hixon from the east . A dozen of the older Souths , who had not become soldiers , met them there , and , with no word , separated to close about them in a circle of protection . As Callomb 's eyes swept the almost deserted streets , so silent that the strident switching of a freight train could be heard down at the edge of town , he shook his head . As he met the sullen glances of the gathering in the court-house yard , he turned to Samson .