nine o'clock
`` O , just be natural . '' Gloria rose and began to clear the table as she added : `` Now , Bobs , since you have to go after your friend , Miss Wiggin , Lena May and I will prepare the dinner . We have it planned , but we 're going to surprise you with our menu . '' It was nine o'clock when Roberta left the Pensinger mansion . It was the first Sunday that the girls had spent on the East Side , and what a different sight met the eyes of Bobs when she started down the nearly deserted street , on one side of which were the wide docks . Derricks were silent and the men who lived on the barges were dressed in whatever holiday attire they possessed . They were seated , some on gunwales , others on rolls of tarred rope , smoking and talking , and save for an occasional steamer loaded with folk from the city who were sailing away for a day 's outing , peace reigned on the waterfront , for even the noise of the factory was stilled .