about three o'clock
But on Thursday Winona was able to announce that the day would be Saturday . They would come for Merle Saturday afternoon . She had been told this distinctly by Mrs. Harvey D. Though her informant had set no hour , Winona thought it would be three o'clock . She believed the importance of the affair demanded the setting of an exact hour , and there was something about three o'clock that commended itself to her . From this moment the atmosphere of the Penniman house was increasingly strained . There were preparations . The slender wardrobe of the crown prince of the Whipple dynasty was put in perfect order , and two items newly added to it by the direction of Dave Cowan .