ten o'clock
A few minutes later Gladys and her father withdrew from the room . `` I am so glad , '' whispered Gladys to Bab , as she passed her cousin on her way out . Barbara held her hand just long enough to murmur gently : `` Gladys , dear , if I once did you a kindness , I think you have repaid me a thousand-fold . '' It was after ten o'clock when `` Mr. A. Bubble '' bore the travelers home to Laurel Cottage . Mollie and Ruth were waiting in the sitting room , with a fire burning cheerily in the grate and the candles lit over the mantelpiece . In front of the fire , they had mounted twelve marshmallows , which they were toasting to a beautiful brown on twelve hatpins . `` We thought you were never coming back , Mummy , '' said Mollie , taking off her mother 's light wrap .