About nine o'clock
We 'll be here until Christmas , anyway , I think , unless Aunt Lucy should slip away before that time . '' `` I wonder what uncle would say to me if I asked him about Tad when he comes home tonight . I think that 's what I 'll do . '' About nine o'clock he heard the heavy footsteps of his uncle on the veranda , and in another moment heard him in the hall . After hanging up his hat and coat , he came into the library , picked up the _ Evening Telegraph , _ and began to read , entirely ignoring Willis . After they had sat thus silently for some minutes , Willis spoke : `` Uncle , did you ever know a man named Tad Kieser , who was a great friend of my father 's ? '' The man moved uneasily in his chair , but , without looking up from his paper , he inquired of the boy what he knew of Tad Kieser .