hour from eight to nine
`` Let her do it for you ; it will be ten times funnier than telling it . '' `` When will you do it ? '' `` To-night , if I can manage it ; it will be a good time after last night 's cut-up . '' When the bell for retiring rang at half-past nine that night , it produced a most remarkable effect , for , instead of suggesting snug beds and dream-land , it seemed instantly to banish any desire for sleep which the previous study hour from eight to nine had aroused in several of the girls . They all went to their rooms , to be sure , but once within them a startling change took place . Instead of undressing like wise young people , they slipped off their dresses , and put on their night-dresses over the rest of their clothing , then all crawled into bed to await the first act of `` La Somnambula . '' They had barely gotten settled when footsteps were heard coming softly down the corridor , as though the feet taking the steps were encased in wool slippers , and the owner of those feet wished to avoid being heard .