nine o'clock
`` Just see here , fellows . Fresh , yellow butter , a pail of milk , three pies , two loaves of bread , a cup of cheese , a picked duck , and potatoes and apples ! We had a time to get them , though -- a mile and a half down the creek , and half a mile over the fields . '' It was nearly dark when supper was ready , and the meal was eaten with such slow enjoyment that nine o'clock arrived before the last of the dishes were washed and put away . Then the tired boys went to bed , after securing the tent flaps with more than usual care . No alarm disturbed their sleep that night . Wednesday dawned clear as a whistle .