three o'clock
I suppose I belong with the horses , anyhow , and that old bottle-nosed General has me classed all right ! '' When Pete returned he handed the Colonel a dainty little three-cornered note . It was addressed to `` My dear friend , '' and the writer was _ so sorry _ he was going away so _ very soon _ , and had hoped he would stay _ ever _ so much longer , and then signed herself cordially his , Susan Burleigh Braxton . At the bottom was a postscript -- `` I will expect you at three o'clock . '' An hour before the appointed time the Colonel was striding impatiently up and down before the Elms , incessantly consulting his watch or wistfully gazing up the gravelled walk . It still lacked several minutes of three , when his heart gave a great jump as he saw Miss Braxton 's graceful figure flitting in and out through the shrubbery . She stopped to pluck some roses from a bush that hung over the walk , bending down the richly laden bough so that the flowers made a complete circle about her bright young face , and as she raised her eyes she caught the Colonel gazing at her with such a look of abject idolatry that she laughed and blushed .