nearly eleven o'clock
He went to his room , gravely mystified by the circumstance . A messenger was sent post haste to the village hard by , with instructions to find Dick if he were at either of the boarding-houses . The master of Jenison Hall could not help chuckling to himself in contemplation of the crafty tricks the writer of the letter had employed in securing his information and in appropriating stationery . It was nearly eleven o'clock when the darky boy returned with the word that no one fitting the description had been seen in the village . `` But he must be there , '' said the young master , vastly perplexed and not a little annoyed . `` Yas , sah , '' agreed the darky , not for a moment questioning the assertion that fell from his master 's lips . If `` Marse David '' said he was there , he _ was _ there ; that is all there could be to it .