about nine o'clock
They passed through the deserted summer resort . It was about a mile now to the telegraph office . Larry recalled that Bailey had told him there was a short cut by keeping to the railroad track , and he turned into that highway , followed by Peter , who , it seemed , had resolved not to lose sight of his rival . It was now about nine o'clock , though his activity since early morning made it seem much later to Larry . He knew he had a good story safe in his pocket , and he was pretty sure Peter had only a garbled account , for he could not have gotten the facts so quickly . Nor did he , Larry was sure , have the passenger list , which was the best part of the story . On and on the two rivals trudged silently .