nine o'clock
It was hard and heavy work and she was not skilled at it , and so took twice as long a time as Bob usually did . Then , when she had saddled Clover and changed to her riding habit , she sighted the mail car down the road and waited to see if the carrier had brought her any later news of her uncle . The Watterbys promptly sent her any letters that came addressed to her there . There was no news , but the delay was fifteen minutes or so , and when Betty finally started for the Watterbys it was after nine o'clock . She had no definite plan beyond telephoning to her uncle and imploring him to come and help them hunt for Bob . `` Where could he be ? '' mourned poor Miss Hope , with maddening persistency .