eight in the morning
`` You ought to see mother and father . I wish you would leave Lin marry you , though , '' said the boy , coming to her with an impulse of affection . `` Why wo n't you if he do n't mind ? '' She continued to parry him , but this was not a very smooth start for eight in the morning . Moments of lull there were , when the telegraph called her to the front room , and Billy 's young mind shifted to inquiries about the cipher alphabet . And she gained at least an hour teaching him to read various words by the sound . At dinner , too , he was refreshingly silent .