nine o'clock
Slowly his gaze penetrated the gloom , and the figure of a battered man shaped itself , his two hands strapped to his sides . The deputies got in , the door was shut sharply , and the van shot forward . In less than fifteen minutes they had reached the ferry . The train was late , and it was long after nine o'clock when it pulled into the Fairview station . The day had been hot , and the breath of evening was bringing out grateful and cooling odors from the sunburnt stubble of the hillside as Fred Starratt and his keeper stepped upon the station platform . The insane Italian followed between two guards . An automobile swung toward them .