sun of ten o'clock
PINS SPELLING WAS DREADFULL AND SHE IS NEARLY NINE NOW AND IS SUCH A BABY THE GIRLS WOULD LAUGH AT HER . The mornings were beginning to grow dark and chilly : fires were laid overnight in the outer classrooms -- and the junior governess who was on early duty , having pealed the six-o'clock bell , flitted like a grey wraith from room to room and from one gas-jet to another , among stretched , sleeping forms . And the few minutes ' grace at an end , it was a cold , unwilling pack that threw off coverlets and jumped out of bed , to tie on petticoats and snuggle into dressing-gowns and shawls ; for the first approach of cooler weather was keenly felt , after the summer heat . The governess blew on speedily chilblained fingers , in making her rounds of the verandahs to see that each of the twenty pianos was rightly occupied ; and , as winter crept on , its chief outward sign an occasional thin white spread of frost which vanished before the mighty sun of ten o'clock , she sometimes took the occupancy for granted , and skipped an exposed room . At eight , the boarders assembled in the dining-hall for prayers and breakfast . After this meal it was Mrs. Gurley 's custom to drink a glass of hot water . While she sipped , she gave audience , meting out rebukes and crushing complaints -- were any bold enough to offer them -- standing erect behind her chair at the head of the table , supported by one or more of the staff .