eleven o'clock before
The people in the windows here threw down not only confetti but flowers , and stacks at each elbow added to the mass of color . Even the men had tied bright silk handkerchiefs about their necks , and they were bestrewed with bits of gold and silver paper , and festooned with colored ribbon . Gwynne and Isabel were quickly singled out and pelted with balls that opened with the impact and tangled them together with the endless paper streamers . It was eleven o'clock before the crowd began its retreat to their restaurants , and Gwynne and Isabel were able to make their way up to the celebrated resort where the Hofers awaited them . They were shown to a dressing-room where they could wash their faces , and then to the gallery above the body of the restaurant which was divided into boxes , and occupied by all sorts and kinds of people , including many of their friends . In Hofer 's box was a large bottle on ice and a table set for supper . Mrs. Hofer , looking less approving than earlier in the evening , sat half-hidden by a curtain , but her husband , in common with most of the other people in the gallery , was throwing confetti upon his friends below .