nine o'clock
She has borne up so bravely , silently , patiently . Their journey has been trying and full of fatigue , but once at Frederick he has left her in the hands of a sympathetic woman , the wife of the proprietor of the only tavern in which a room could be had , and , promising to return as soon as he could see the lieutenant , he has gone away on his quest with hopeful heart . A soldier claiming to be of the -- th Massachusetts told them that very morning at the Baltimore station that Mr. Abbot was well enough to be up and about . It is barely nine o'clock now . In less than an hour there will be a train going back . All he can think of is that they must go -- go as quick as possible . They have nothing now to keep them here , and he has one secret to guard from all -- his little girl 's .