three o'clock in the morning
whispered Violet . `` Listen ! '' The three girls sat quiet , every nerve tense , that same chilly sensation creeping up their spines , and their hair beginning to stand on end . Out there in that wilderness , at three o'clock in the morning , a noise that sounded something like a motor car and yet was unlike anything they had ever heard before , might have frightened more experienced people than three fourteen-year-old girls . `` H-here it comes ! '' whispered Violet , clutching at Laura 's arm , while Laura in her turn clutched at Billie 's . `` It 's coming closer !