nearly three o'clock
Of course , it is n't settled yet , '' Joe told himself , `` but there must have been a good foundation for it , or Gregory would n't have taken the trouble to write to me about it . '' Joe found the road to Deep Rock Cut fully as bad , in the matter of snowdrifts , as he had expected . It was rather slow going when he got to the open country , where the wind had full sweep , and progress , even on the part of the willing horses , was slower . Joe picked out the best , and easiest , route possible , but that was not saying much , and it was not until nearly three o'clock , and growing quite dark , that he came within sight of the cut . Then the storm was so thick that he could not see the stalled train . `` I 'll have to leave the team as near to it as I can get , and walk in to tell Reggie and Mabel that I 've come for them , '' Joe decided . The highway crossed the railroad track a short distance from the end of the cut nearest Riverside , and Joe , halting a moment to listen , and to make sure no trains were approaching , drove over the rails .