five o'clock in the afternoon
I would have done anything to have brought him to life ; but , as I could not do that , helping you to get home was the next best thing I could do . '' `` I know you did n't mean to shoot Mr. Stubbs , '' said Toby , with moistening eyes as he spoke of his pet , `` an ' I 'm sorry I said what I did to you in the woods . '' Before there was time to say any more the warning whistle was sounded , the plank pulled in , the great wheels commenced to revolve , and Toby was really on his way to Uncle Daniel and Guilford . It was then but five o'clock in the afternoon , and he could not expect to reach home until two or three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day ; but he was in a tremor of excitement as he thought that he should walk through the streets of Guilford once more , see all the boys , and go home to Uncle Daniel . And yet , whenever he thought of that home , of meeting those boys , of going once more to all those old familiar places , the memory of all that he had planned when he should take the monkey with him would come into his mind and damp even his joy , great as it was . That night he had considerable difficulty in falling asleep , but did finally succeed in doing so ; and when he awoke the steamer was going up the river , whose waters seemed like an old friend , because they had flowed right down past Guilford on their way to the sea . At each town where a landing was made Toby looked eagerly out on the pier , thinking that by chance some one from his home might be there and he would see a familiar face again .