nine
o'clock
`` I 'll go , George , '' I said , wheeling about , `` if you 'll pledge yourself that I go properly dressed . '' `` Done , '' he responded , with his unfailing amiability . `` I 'll tie your cravat myself ; and thank your stars , Ben , that whatever you are , you ca n't be little , for that 's the unforgivable sin in Sally 's eyes . '' On Wednesday night he proved as good as his promise , and when nine o'clock struck , it found me , in irreproachable evening clothes , following him down Franklin Street , to the old house , where a softly coloured light streamed through the windows and lay in a rosy pool under the sycamores . All day I had been very nervous . At the moment when I was reading telegrams for the General , I had suddenly remembered that I possessed no gloves suitable to be worn at my first party , and I had committed so many blunders that the great man had roared the word `` Swelled ! '' in a furious tone .