about noon
Jack passed the night in uneasy slumber , for he could not help thinking of what the morrow might bring and what effect it might have on his search for his father . But all things have an end , and morning finally came . After breakfast Mr. Hardy looked well to the saddle girths , as he said , if they were to go further on their journey , they would have to proceed over a rougher road than any they had yet traversed . They started for the blighted oak so as to reach there about noon . How anxiously did Jack peer ahead for a sight of the lightning - blasted tree , in order to catch the first glimpse of the white flag he hoped to see ! He was so impatient that Mr. Hardy had to caution him not to ride too fast . But in spite of this the boy kept pressing his horse forward .