five o'clock
It always rains in the morning of Baccalaureate Sunday , but it generally clears up in time for the service , which is in the afternoon ; and even if it does n't the graduating class and its friends are willing to make the best of a bad matter because it would have been so much worse if the rain had waited for Ivy Day . 19 -- 's Baccalaureate was showery in an accommodating fashion that permitted the class to sleep late in the morning because their families would n't want them to go out in the rain , and cleared off just before and just after the service , so that they did n't need the carriages that they could n't possibly have gotten , no matter how it poured . And it cleared off for Ivy Day . Helen Adams was up at five o'clock anxiously inspecting the watery sunshine to see if it would last . `` For they ca n't plant the ivy in the rain , '' she thought , `` and if they do n't plant it how can they sing the song ? '' But the sunshine lasted , Marie planted the ivy , -- and the college gardener carefully replanted it later , '' 'cause them gals will be that disapp ` inted if it do n't live , '' -- the class sang Helen 's song , and the odes , orations and addresses were all duly delivered . Then , as Bob flippantly remarked , the fun began .