six o'clock
Then Miss McMurtry held a kind of impromptu examination in questions of patriotism and nature lore , the girls and men managing to about equally divide the honors . But the really extraordinary feature of the afternoon was that dull little Sylvia Wharton , the youngest member of the company , was easily first in half a dozen observation games most important in the training of Camp Fire girls and Boy Scouts . For instance , in a Quick-sight experiment , the girls and boys walking rapidly from the camping ground to the shores of the lake , Sylvia had seen eight small objects more than any one else and she was so quiet and looked so stolid while doing it that Polly wanted to laugh , and began to doubt her stupidity . At six o'clock it still appeared as though the Boy Scouts intended remaining for the evening meal and camp fire ; however , Miss McMurtry kindly but firmly bade them farewell . The girls were tired and it was a long tramp back to the Scout camp . There had been no suggestion from any one that the surprise visit had been made in any spirit of criticism and yet John Everett made a half-hearted apology to Betty and his sister . When the farewells were being said all round , he called the two girls aside : `` I say , '' he murmured boyishly , in spite of his years and six feet , `` I have got to confess that I never saw you girls looking so well , so kind of up to the limit before , and I thought by this time you would surely be fagged out , or bored , or sick of trying things out together .