two o'clock
Keith smiled as he sat down opposite the man who would have sent him to the executioner had he known the truth . After all , it was but a step from comedy to tragedy . And just now he was conscious of a bit of grisly humor in the situation . The storm had settled into a steady drizzle when McDowell left the Shack at two o'clock . Keith watched the iron man , as his tall , gray figure faded away into the mist down the slope , with a curious undercurrent of emotion . Before the inspector had come up as his guest he had , he thought , definitely decided his future action . He would go west on his furlough , write McDowell that he had decided not to reenlist , and bury himself in the British Columbia mountains before an answer could get back to him , leaving the impression that he was going on to Australia or Japan .