seven o'clock
It was thus that matters stood with her , when , with the rest of the company , she arrived in Dubuque on a Wednesday morning , with an hour or so to spare before the matinée . It was a beastly day . A gusty rain , whipping up from the south , by way of answer to the challenge of a heavy snowfall the day before , inflicted a combination of the rigors of winter , with a debilitating , disquieting hint of spring . The train , for which they had been routed out that morning at seven o'clock , had been blistering hot and the necessarily open windows had let in choking clouds of smoke . The hotel was hot , too . Rose and Dolly , as soon as they had registered , went up to their room and washed off the stains of travel , as well as they could in translucent water that was the color of weak coffee . Then Rose , in a kimono , stretched out on the bed to make up some of the rest their early departure from Cedar Rapids had deprived her of .