eleven o'clock
We had _ slaved _ all the term , and were at the last gasp . The head girl was one Annie Macdiarmid , a marvel of a creature , the most all-round scholar I 've ever met . She was invariably first in everything , and I usually came in a bad third . Well , we 'd had an arithmetic exam , one day , pretty stiff , but not more so than usual , and on this particular morning at eleven o'clock we were waiting to hear the result . The Mathematic Master was a lamb -- so keen , and humorous , and just -- a _ rageur _ at times , but that was only to be expected . He came into the room , papers in hand , his mouth screwed up , and his eyebrows nearly hidden under his hair . We knew at a glance that something awful had happened .