four
o'clock
When you do , remember that the collections are as prompt as the postman 's , '' said Eleanor . `` Come back at six , and you can get out your letter . '' But the freshman , blushing as red as her scarlet cap , had vanished down the hall . Then , instead of dropping in her theme and hurrying home , as she had intended , to get into an old skirt and a heavy shirt-waist before four o'clock , Eleanor sat down on the lowest step of the broad stairway , as if she had decided to wait there until six o'clock and rescue the freshman 's letter herself . Five -- ten -- fifteen minutes , she sat there . Girl after girl came through the hall to deposit themes , or consult the bulletin boards . Among them were one or two of the `` sophomore push , '' as Christy had called them .