three o'clock
Oh , I ca n't to-day . It is impossible -- '' Professor Howe made no reply and passed on to the next pupil . Blue Bonnet did some quick thinking during the next few minutes . How she was to write a theme and get ready to go to Cambridge by three o'clock , was beyond her ability to calculate . Professor Howe would surely excuse her when she explained ; explained that she had tried to write the theme and failed -- she felt sure of that . But Professor Howe for once was adamant . No explanation sufficed ; no amount of pleading prevailed .