eight o'clock
Nancy looked back and nodded from the tangle to Tom , who stood on the curbstone with his hands in his pockets . Her white hood bobbed out of sight the next moment in School Street behind a great dray . `` Good gracious ! eight o'clock ! '' said Tom , a little daunted , as he walked quickly up the street . As he passed the Missionary Building and the bookstore , he laughed aloud ; but as he came near the clubhouse again , in this victorious retreat , he looked up at a window of one of the pleasant old houses , and then obeyed the beckoning nod of an elderly relative who seemed to have been watching for his return . `` Tom , '' said she , as he entered the library , `` I insist upon it that I am not curious by nature or by habit , but what in the world made you chase that funny old horse and sleigh ? ''