six o'clock
`` Oh , the teachers are going -- worse luck ! '' Sarah assured her . `` I 'll bet they shriek every time I find a water snake . '' The Saturday chosen for the picnic dawned clear and warm and there was no sleep for anyone in the Willis family after six o'clock . Shirley and Sarah had to be forcibly restrained from investigating the boxes on the kitchen table and Winnie finally decided to finish packing them before breakfast , in order to `` get a moment 's peace '' as she said . Sarah flatly refused to go to the picnic unless her red tie could be found , not that she wanted to wear it for decorative purposes , she carefully explained , but because she thought she could catch minnows in it . There was a brook running through the picnic field and Sarah meant to explore it thoroughly .