eight o'clock
They 'll be able to see it perfectly well . '' `` We could n't manage if the bed were n't a four-poster , '' said Cicely , chuckling in anticipation of the fun to come . Beryl Austen and Effie Hargreaves slept in a room almost opposite to Lindsay 's and Cicely 's . Before eight o'clock arrived the two latter contrived to make an excuse to go upstairs , and hastily completed their preparations . The arrangements were ingenious . They fastened their rat very lightly by two pieces of thin sewing cotton to the middle of the piece of tapestry that formed the roof of the great four-post bed . To the cotton was attached a long strand of string , which passed through the curtains and out at the door -LRB- conveniently near the bed -RRB- , the end being hidden under the mat on the landing .