eight o'clock
I wish the colonel would call for volunteers to guard the elder 's house of nights . I 'd go for one . '' As usual there was nothing said to the guard runners , and neither was there another sham fight in the hall , the trouble over the flag having been settled for a few days at least . The students were very quiet that evening , and when Dick and Marcy went on post at eight o'clock , there were no indications of the hubbub and confusion that one of them was destined to create before he was relieved at midnight . Dick thought it a part of his duty to keep watch of the town as well as over a portion of the school grounds , and when he stopped to rest , he always turned his face toward Barrington . Once he thought he heard faint shouts , and a few minutes later he was sure he saw the first rays of the rising moon ; but that could hardly be , for , if he remembered rightly , the almanac said there was n't to be any moon that night . `` By gracious ! ''