ten o'clock
As he spoke , the Colonel was busily employed finishing the bandaging , and when this was done he stood thinking , while the dog lay quiet enough , blinking at those who had been operating upon him . `` We might secure his legs somehow , '' said the Colonel , thoughtfully ; `` for all our success depends upon the next hour . '' But Grip solved the difficulty by stretching himself out on one side with his bandaged legs together , and , closing his eyes , went off fast asleep , with the boys watching him -- the Colonel having gone into the house , for it had turned too dark for him to go on grape-thinning long before the canine surgery was at an end . The boys watched beside the dog till past ten o'clock , when the Colonel came in and examined the bandages . `` Set quite hard , '' he said , `` and he 's sleeping fast enough . Nature always seems kind to injured animals . They curl up and go to sleep till they 're better . ''