noon
Tom and the General both declared they had said nothing about it , and Basset was equally positive he had not opened his mouth . It is , therefore , singular that , before twelve o'clock the next day , rumors of the adventure had reached the ears of more than one-half the inhabitants of Hillsdale . True , none were very accurate , nor did any two agree ; for , as is apt to happen , in such cases , each one who told the story took care , most conscientiously , it should lose nothing in the repetition . Hence , before noon , it was , like most of our modern literature , `` splendidly embellished . '' It was not strange , then , that the doctor , in his morning round among his patients and friends , should get some inkling of it . Divested of ornaments , enough remained to satisfy him that an attempt to arrest Holden had been made . For the cause , he was at first at a loss ; for , though he had heard of the disturbance at the conference , he hardly supposed that an offence which he regarded as so venial , would have drawn along such serious consequences .