noon
`` You gave me the salt , Rhoda , instead of the sugar . Oh , what a dose ! '' The girls wanted to shout with laughter , but caution made them smother it as much as possible . And just at this juncture , the door opened part way without even one little warning squeak , and a severe voice said : `` Young ladies , report to me at my office at noon to-morrow . '' The girls , their laughter quenched , gazed at each other for a few seconds with stupefaction . Then Nan sprang to the door , opened it , and caught sight of a silently scurrying figure that could not by any means be confounded with Mrs. Cupp 's angular form or slow , measured movements . The other girls , astonished , gazed at Nan open-mouthed as she re-entered the room with flushed and indignant face and uttered the one enlightening word : `` Linda . ''