about nine in the
morning
One weekend my real aunt comes to visit and sleeps in my room , so I go to stay with Aunt Kate , and I pretty near turn into cottage cheese . I 've about settled into this dull routine when Mom surprises me by handing me a postcard one morning . It 's from Tom : `` Day off next Tuesday . If you feel like it , meet me near the aquarium at Coney Island about nine in the morning , before it 's crowded . '' So that week drags by till Tuesday , and there I am at Coney Island bright and early . Tom is easy enough to find , pacing up and down the boardwalk like a tiger . We say `` Hi '' and so forth , and I 'm all ready to take a run for the water , but he keeps snapping his fingers and looking up and down the boardwalk .