nearly eight o'clock
Mrs. Wiggins had n't wanted her , but , as I told the old doctor at the time , we needed somebody in the kitchen to keep an eye on things for us . It was through Tillie that we discovered that the help were having egg-nog twice a day , with eggs as scarce as hens ' teeth , and the pharmacy clerk putting in a requisition for more whisky every week . Well , I scribbled a note to Mr. Van Alstyne , telling what had happened , and put it under his door , and then I met Miss Patty in the hall by the billiard room and I gave her some coffee from the basket , in the sun parlor . It was still dark , although it was nearly eight o'clock , and nobody saw us go out together . Just as we left I heard the chef in the kitchen bawling out that he 'd murder whoever put the kettle against the bell , and Tillie saying it must have dropped off the hook and landed there . We went to the spring-house first , to avoid suspicion , and then across back of the deer park to the shelter-house . It was still snowing , but not so much , and the tracks we had made early in the morning were still there , mine off to one side alone , and the others close together and side by side .