Five o'clock
At about four o'clock on a windy , warm September afternoon , four girls came out of the post-office of Monroe , California . They had loitered on their way in , consciously wasting time ; they had spent fifteen minutes in the dark and dirty room upon an absolutely unnecessary errand , and now they sauntered forth into the village street keenly aware that the afternoon was not yet waning , and disheartened by the slow passage of time . At five they would go to Bonestell 's drug store , and sit in a row at the soda counter , and drink effervescent waters pleasingly mingled with fruit syrups and an inferior quality of ice cream . Five o'clock was the hour for `` sodas , '' neither half-past four nor half-past five was at all the same thing in the eyes of Monroe 's young people . After that they would wander idly toward the bridge , and separate ; Grace Hawkes turning toward the sunset for another quarter of a mile , Rose Ransome opening the garden gate of the pretty , vine-covered cottage near the bridge , and the Monroe girls , Sarah and Martha , in a desperate hurry now , flying up the twilight quiet of North Main Street to the long picket fence , the dark , tree-shaded garden , and the shabby side-doorway of the old Monroe house . Three of these girls met almost every afternoon , going first to each other 's houses , and later wandering down for the mail , for some trivial errand at drug store or dry-goods store , and for the inevitable ices . Rose Ransome was not often with them , for Rose was just a little superior in several ways to her present companions , and frequently spent the afternoon practising on her violin , or driving , or walking with the Parker girls and Florence Frost , who hardly recognized the existence of Grace Hawkes and the Monroes .