five o'clock
It should be as big as a cart-wheel , and the first gift to be unwound should be a tiny ring set with an emerald , because that is the lucky stone for people born in May . She already owned so many books , and trinkets , that she hardly knew what else to wish for unless it might be a coral fan chain and a mother-of-pearl manicure set . But deep down in the heart of the ball she would like to find a wishing-nut , that would grant her wishes like an Aladdin 's lamp whenever it was rubbed . She must have fallen asleep in the midst of her day-dreaming , for it seemed to her that it was only a minute after she closed her book , that she heard the half-past five o'clock train whistling at the station , and while she was still rubbing her eyes she saw her father coming up the avenue . All day she had had a lingering hope that he might bring her something when he came out from the city . `` If it 's nothing but a bag of peanuts , '' she thought , `` it will be better than having a birthday go by without anything , ` specially when all the othahs have been neahly as nice as Christmas . '' She peeped out between the curtains , scanning him eagerly as he came toward the house , but there was no package in either hand , and no suggestive parcel bulged from any of his pockets .