midnight
he sobbed , dropping his head in his hands . `` He wo n't go home 'til morning ! '' hummed Monte , catching Birdie by the arm and skipping down the passage . Nance stood for a moment looking down at the maudlin old figure muttering to himself on the door-step ; then she , too , turned and followed the others out into the gay midnight throng . What a radically different place the world seems when one does n't have to begin the day with an alarm clock ! There is a hateful authority in its brassy , peremptory summons that puts one on the defensive immediately . To be sure , Nance dreamed she heard it the following day at noon , and sprang up in bed with the terrifying conviction that she would be late at Miss Bobinet 's .