five o'clock
Slowly the great gate swung open , and the carriage passed through . Joyce sprang out and ran on ahead to open the door . Hand in hand , just as when they were little children , Martin and Désiré , this white-haired brother and sister went back to the old home together ; and it was Christmas Day , in the morning . * * * * * At five o'clock that evening the sound of Gabriel 's accordeon went echoing up and down the garden , and thirty little children were marching to its music along the paths , between the rows of blooming laurel . Joyce understood , now , why the room where the Christmas tree stood had been kept so carefully locked . For two days that room had been empty and the tree had been standing in Monsieur Ciseaux 's parlor . Cousin Kate and madame and Berthé and Marie and Gabriel had all been over there , busily at work , and neither she nor Jules had suspected what was going on down-stairs .