six in the morning
The candle was blown out and Alice soon went to sleep , but Rebecca tossed on her pillow , its goose-feathered softness all dented by the cruel lead knobs and the knots of twisted rags . She slipped out of bed and walked to and fro , holding her aching head with both hands . Finally she leaned on the window-sill , watching the still weather-vane on Alice 's barn and breathing in the fragrance of the ripening apples , until her restlessness subsided under the clear starry beauty of the night . At six in the morning the girls were out of bed , for Alice could hardly wait until Rebecca 's hair was taken down , she was so eager to see the result of her labors . The leads and rags were painfully removed , together with much hair , the operation being punctuated by a series of squeaks , squeals , and shrieks on the part of Rebecca and a series of warnings from Alice , who wished the preliminaries to be kept secret from the aunts , that they might the more fully appreciate the radiant result . Then came the unbraiding , and then -- dramatic moment -- the `` combing out ; '' a difficult , not to say impossible process , in which the hairs that had resisted the earlier stages almost gave up the ghost . The long front strands had been wound up from various angles and by various methods , so that , when released , they assumed the strangest , most obstinate , most unexpected attitudes .