eight o'clock
No other teacher had ever entered on the task of giving us instruction with such zeal and such enthusiasm . It was a zeal , too , and an enthusiasm which embraced every pupil in the room and stopped at nothing short of enlisting that pupil 's best efforts to learn . Master Pierson put life and hard work into everything that went on at school -- even into the old schoolhouse itself . Every morning he would be off from the old Squire 's at eight o'clock , to see that the schoolhouse was well warmed and ready to begin lessons at nine ; and if there had been any neglect in sweeping or dusting , he would do it himself , and have every desk and bench clean and tidy before school time . What was more , Master Pierson possessed the rare faculty of communicating his own zeal for learning to his pupils . We became so interested , as weeks passed , that of our own accord we brought our school books home with us at night , in order to study evenings ; and we asked for longer lessons that we might progress faster . My cousin Halstead was one of those boys -LRB- and their name is Legion -RRB- who dislike study and complain of their lessons that they are too long and too hard .