about nine o'clock
But when at last they reached the village , and Uncle Braddock went over the fields to his cabin , Kate ran into the house , carrying her bag with ease , for she was excited by the hope that Harry had come home by some shorter way , and that she should find him in the house . But there was no Harry there . And soon it was night , and yet he did not come . Matters now looked serious , and about nine o'clock Mr. Loudon , with two of the neighbors , started out into the woods to look for Aunt Matilda 's young guardian . Kate 's mother was away on a visit to her relations in another county , and so the little girl passed the night on the sofa in the parlor , with a colored woman asleep on the rug before the fireplace . Kate would not go to bed . She determined to stay awake until Harry should come home .