eight o'clock in the morning
By the time Mary Jane 's clothes were dry , everybody had a basketful of flowers . Alice and Ruth straightened them all out neatly and tied them into bunches while their shoes and stockings were drying . As the girls all lived in the neighborhood , they decided to put the bunches in a tub in Alice 's basement . `` Then we can come over at eight o'clock in the morning and put them in the gift basket and take them to Miss Heath 's before breakfast , '' said Frances . And so it was planned . Alice and Ruth put on their shoes and stockings and Mrs. Merrill dressed Mary Jane in her dried out clothes -- and how funny they did look too -- and then the picnic started for home . Mr. Merrill was just driving up to the house when they got back home and he stared in amazement when he saw Mary Jane .