ten o'clock
`` She said that roommates are good for the character . '' At this Lila rose with such an air of patient endurance that poor Bea felt clumsy , remorseful , injured and perplexed simultaneously . A cloud of resentful silence hovered over them both through the weary hours of the afternoon . Not until the ten o'clock gong sent the echoes booming through the deserted corridors , did Lila break down in a storm of weeping that terrified Bea . She found herself begging pardon , apologizing , caressing , explaining and repenting wholesale of rudeness about the desk , of selfish neglect in the case of the books , of disloyalty in giving ear to Miss Merriam 's gratuitous comments . This gale blew over , leaving one girl with darker circles under her eyes and a more pathetic droop at the corners of her mouth , leaving the other with a fellow feeling for any unfortunate bull who happens to get into a china shop , intentionally or otherwise . Life at college promised to be like walking over exceedingly thin ice every day and all day long .