about nine o'clock
Miss Grundy , however , said `` it was plenty good enough for a pauper , '' reminding Mary that `` beggars should n't be choosers . '' `` So it is good enough for paupers like you , '' returned Sal , `` but people who understand grammar always have a keen sense of the ridiculous . '' Mary made no remark whatever , but she secretly wondered if Ella wore such a hat . Still her desire to see her sister and to visit her mother 's grave , prevailed over all other feelings , and on Sunday morning it was a very happy child which at about nine o'clock bounded down the stairway , tidily dressed in a ten cent black lawn and a pair of clean white pantalets . There was another circumstance , too , aside from the prospect of seeing Ella , which made her eyes sparkle until they were almost black . The night before , in looking over the articles of dress which she would need , she discovered that there was not a decent pair of stockings in her wardrobe . Mrs. Grundy , to whom she mentioned the fact , replied with a violent shoulder jerk , `` For the land 's sake !