four o'clock
Her black silk , shell-like jacket half clasped her stayless bust clad in an under-bodice of soft muslin that faintly outlined a contour which struck him as already womanly . A black lace veil which had protected her head , she had on entering slipped down to her shoulders with a graceful gesture , leaving one end of it pinned to her hair by a rose above her little yellow ear . The whole figure was so inconsistent with its present setting that the master inwardly resolved to suggest a modification of it to Mrs. Hoover as he , with great gravity , however , led the girl to the seat he had prepared for her . Mr. Hoover , who had been assisting discipline as he conscientiously believed by gazing with hushed , reverent reminiscence on the walls , here whispered behind his large hand that he would call for her at `` four o'clock '' and tiptoed out of the schoolroom . The master , who felt that everything would depend upon his repressing the children 's exuberant curiosity and maintaining the discipline of the school for the next few minutes , with supernatural gravity addressed the young girl in Spanish and placed before her a few slight elementary tasks . Perhaps the strangeness of the language , perhaps the unwonted seriousness of the master , perhaps also the impassibility of the young stranger herself , all contributed to arrest the expanding smiles on little faces , to check their wandering eyes , and hush their eager whispers . By degrees heads were again lowered over their tasks , the scratching of pencils on slates , and the far-off rapping of Woodpeckers again indicated the normal quiet of the schoolroom , and the master knew he had triumphed , and the ordeal was past .