midnight
She 'll be well till a day or two , now , and back to school -- IF she 's kep ' quiet , and her mind ai n't bothered any . Now , GOOD-by to yous . '' For a long time after her unhappy experiences with `` Ivanhoe '' Tillie did not again venture to transgress against her father 's prohibition of novels . But her fear of the family strap , although great , did not equal the keenness of her mental hunger , and was not sufficient , therefore , to put a permanent check upon her secret midnight reading , though it did lead her to take every precaution against detection . Miss Margaret continued to lend her books and magazines from time to time , and in spite of the child 's reluctance to risk involving the teacher in trouble with the School Board through her father , she accepted them . And so during all this winter , through her love for books and her passionate devotion to her teacher , the little girl reveled in feasts of fancy and emotion and this term at school was the first season of real happiness her young life had ever known . Once on her return from school the weight of a heavy volume had proved too great a strain on her worn and thin undergarment during the long walk home ; the skirt had torn away from the band , and as she entered the kitchen , her stepmother discovered the book .