They were too dirty and muddy to venture into the presence of the master.

Consequently the obvious course was to wait until four o'clock when joining the other children they might slip home unnoticed.
The afternoon soon began to lag.

The woods had lost their first glamour.
Their games grew to be burdensome.

They were weary and hungry, and becoming correspondingly brittle in temper.

Already Nemesis was on their trail.