four in the afternoon
wailed Gladys , `` I ca n't go on with these wet bloomers . '' `` Wear my bathing suit , '' suggested Chapa , untying it from around her waist where she had been wearing it as a sort of sash , with all her impedimenta stuck into the folds . So Gladys changed to the bathing suit , and Chapa fixed the wet bloomers on a stick which they could carry between them , so they would be dry by the time they reached the night 's encampment . `` We ought to be pretty near the end of our journey , '' said Nyoda to Medmangi , at about half-past four in the afternoon . `` Have you caught sight of Balsam Lake yet ? '' Medmangi shook her head . `` The woods are too thick to see anything through , '' she answered .