a quarter to nine
o'clock
In spite of the girls ' impatience , the longed-for Thursday came at last , and proved such a fine , clear , beautiful day , that there was not the slightest hesitation as to whether they should start or not . Avis fulfilled her promise of early rising by getting up to watch the dawn , and tried to make her sleepy room mates share her enthusiasm , an attention which they scarcely appreciated when they discovered that she had roused them three hours too soon . Long before the usual bell rang everybody was up and dressed , which did not bring breakfast any the quicker , though it allowed the girls time to work off some of their spirits by a run round the garden . Punctually at a quarter to nine o'clock a row of omnibuses arrived to convey the seventy-three pupils and their ten teachers to the station . Each girl carried her bathing costume and towel in a neat parcel , and large hampers of lunch were in readiness . `` Miss Lincoln 's taking the cricket tent , '' announced Cissie Gardiner . `` There it is , all wrapped up with its poles and pegs .