eleven o’clock
The old house , with its great stone staircase , echoed hollowly to the sound of typewriters and of errand-boys from ten to six . The noise of different typewriters already at work , disseminating their views upon the protection of native races , or the value of cereals as foodstuffs , quickened Mary 's steps , and she always ran up the last flight of steps which led to her own landing , at whatever hour she came , so as to get her typewriter to take its place in competition with the rest . She sat herself down to her letters , and very soon all these speculations were forgotten , and the two lines drew themselves between her eyebrows , as the contents of the letters , the office furniture , and the sounds of activity in the next room gradually asserted their sway upon her . By eleven o'clock the atmosphere of concentration was running so strongly in one direction that any thought of a different order could hardly have survived its birth more than a moment or so . The task which lay before her was to organize a series of entertainments , the profits of which were to benefit the society , which drooped for want of funds . It was her first attempt at organization on a large scale , and she meant to achieve something remarkable . She meant to use the cumbrous machine to pick out this , that , and the other interesting person from the muddle of the world , and to set them for a week in a pattern which must catch the eyes of Cabinet Ministers , and the eyes once caught , the old arguments were to be delivered with unexampled originality .