5:04
It was the 27th of September and the opening day of school . The girls who had already arrived were walking arm in arm about the grounds , in the broad assembly hall , and in the corridors , talking , laughing and discussing the summer vacation , plans for the winter , the new girls , and a variety of subjects with fine impartiality . In the Senior reception room Mrs. Baird , principal of the school , and a number of the faculty were receiving and assuring the mothers and guardians of the girls . Outside the carriages from the 5:04 train were winding up the steep hill from the station . The girls were waving and calling hellos as they passed one another , and on the broad piazza there was a quantity of suit cases , and a good deal of kissing . Polly Pendleton , seated beside her uncle in one of the last carriages , was just the least little bit frightened . She had never seen quite so many girls nor heard quite so much laughing and talking in all her rather uneventful life .