Eight o'clock
`` In the morning , long before eight o'clock , the boy was ready . He debated for some time whether to stand out of doors on the piazza , or to hide behind the screened window , where he could still watch the tower . He decided at last that it would be better not to let her see him when she looked toward the house ; then his triumph would be all the more complete when he dashed out to run up his answer . `` Eight o'clock came and passed . The boy waited until nine , but there was no sign of life from the tower . The boy was angry then , at himself . He called himself , indeed , a fool , to hide as he did .