noon
`` Teacher , '' as she was understood and accepted by the house of Yellett , undoubtedly filled a long-felt want . Presiding over a school of six-imp power for a week , however , had humbled Mary to the point of seriously considering a letter to the home government , meekly asking for return transportation . But this was before feminine wile had struggled with feminine vanity , and feminine wile won the day . School still continued to open at six , from which early and unusual hour it continued , without recess or interruption , till noon , when dinner pleasantly invaded the scholastic monotony , to the infinite relief of all parties concerned . Mary had dismissed her pupils a few minutes before the usual hour , on a particularly bad day , that she might rally her scattered faculties and present something of a countenance to the watchful eye of Mrs. Yellett . Every element of humor had vanished from the situation . The inverted tub was no longer a theme for merriment in her diary ; home-life without a house was no longer a diverting epigram ; she had closed her eyes that she might not see the mountains in all their grandeur .