about four o'clock
BOOK I At about four o'clock on a windy , warm September afternoon , four girls came out of the post-office of Monroe , California . They had loitered on their way in , consciously wasting time ; they had spent fifteen minutes in the dark and dirty room upon an absolutely unnecessary errand , and now they sauntered forth into the village street keenly aware that the afternoon was not yet waning , and disheartened by the slow passage of time . At five they would go to Bonestell 's drug store , and sit in a row at the soda counter , and drink effervescent waters pleasingly mingled with fruit syrups and an inferior quality of ice cream . Five o'clock was the hour for `` sodas , '' neither half-past four nor half-past five was at all the same thing in the eyes of Monroe 's young people .