half after five before
A forfeit willingly given . `` I can hardly wait until five o'clock , '' Mary said . `` I 'm dying to get Annabel 's flowers for her . '' But the hands of the hall clock pointed to half after five before the guests had left , and Mary and Carita were free to slip down-stairs from Fifth Avenue and across the hall to where the long boxes were piled high beside the mail bag . Through the pile the girls searched , and suddenly Mary , with a cry of satisfaction , snatched her Senior 's box and ran back up-stairs to number fifteen , with mad delight . `` Here they are , Annabel ! Your flowers !