six o'clock in
the morning
`` I do n't believe you know one important thing , '' Eloise replied , `` but I 'll listen , and then if it is I 'll tell you something more important . '' `` I 'm willing to hear it now . Tell me first , '' I replied , wondering the while how nature , that gives rough-hewn bearded faces to men , could make a face so daintily colored , in its youthful roundness , as hers . `` I 'm going to start to St. Louis day after to-morrow at six o'clock in the morning . Is n't that important ? '' Was there a real earnestness under the lightly spoken words , or did I imagine it so ? If I had only made sure then -- but I was young .