noon
`` But to make you more careful in future and to remind you that the rules of Lakeview Hall are made to be observed , not ignored , I will forbid you all to go outside the grounds for three full days . You can go now to your recitations . '' The girls bowed and withdrew , and for the rest of the morning they were unusually quiet . At noon they gathered in Laura 's room , dropped into the nearest chairs at hand , and looked at each other lugubriously . `` Three days without poking our noses outside the gates ! '' mourned Bess . `` How are we ever going to stand it ? ''