four o'clock in the afternoon
`` I am quite curious to see your protege , Miss Harlowe . '' Miss Wilder , the dean of Overton College , had been genuinely glad to welcome Grace Harlowe back to the college fold . During Grace 's four years as a student at Overton she had greatly endeared herself to the dignified , but kindly , dean , who had watched her pass from honor to honor with the same sympathetic interest which Miss Thompson , the principal of Oakdale High School , had ever exhibited in Grace 's progress . It was now almost four o'clock in the afternoon . Grace had spent a busy two hours in Miss Wilder 's office going over the applications for admittance to Harlowe House and discussing ways and means with her superior . `` Do you know , Miss Wilder , that one of the very nicest things about you is your interest in one 's friends and plans ? '' Grace regarded the older woman with sparkling eyes .