eight o'clock
After one experience every fellow might be expected to know better , and scoff at the idea of a true scout going hungry as long as camp stores abounded , and a fire could be kindled . With each passing minute the tumult grew apace . Fathers and mothers gathered to witness the triumphal passing of the troop , in which their own boy must of course appear to be the one particular star . By eight o'clock several hundred people had congregated near the old church . For one morning , business in Stanhope was forgotten or stood still , for neither clerks nor proprietors seemed to evince any desire to show up . Those boys who did not belong to the troop pretended to scoff at the idea of undertaking such a wearisome march ; but this was pretty much make-believe . Deep down in their hearts they were bitterly envious of the good fortune that had befallen their comrades ; for few boys there are but who yearn to get out _ somewhere _ , once in a while , and meet with some sort of adventure .