nine o'clock
There may be plenty of lines to counteract that one ; besides , I am only a beginner , and liable to make a wrong interpretation . ' `` By sheer force of her strong , cheery personality , she calmed Tim after awhile , and had her laughing like the gayest of us . Nobody but Elsie could have done it . `` When Miss Hill made an excuse to come in a little after nine o'clock , we were eating apples and telling riddles as demurely as Quaker ladies . '' -LSB- Illustration : '' ` SHE HID HER FACE ON MY SHOULDER ' '' -RSB- When Olive had finished reading this letter aloud , she had to read several more before she came to another mentioning the subject in which she and Sara were most interested ; and after that there were only occasional paragraphs scattered here and there among pages of personal news and school happenings . `` I am afraid that Timoroso is going to be ill , '' wrote Sophia , in one of those gossipy epistles . `` She is as white and listless as a tired little ghost .