nine o'clock
`` I 'll keep a eye out , '' he told them , `` until some of yez come back . Ye 'd better bring yer blankets along , so that the ones who are not on duty kin sleep . I guess ye 'll find the floor of Headquarters quite soft before mornin ' . '' By the time the scouts returned it was nine o'clock . They found the captain on guard near the shore . `` Nothin ' doin ' yit , '' was his greeting . `` But , then , it 's too early .