four o'clock
She would endure no longer the malicious taunts of her school fellows or the scoldings of the principal , and these could be avoided in no other way than by escaping as she had planned . At ten o'clock she lay down upon her bed , fully dressed , and put out her light ; but she dared not fall asleep lest she miss her train . At times she lighted a match and looked at her watch and it surprised her to realize how long a night can be when one is watching for daybreak . At four o'clock she softly rose , put on her hat , took her suit case in hand and stealthily crept from , the room . It was very dark in the hallway but the house was so familiar to her that she easily felt her way along the passage , down the front stairs and so to the front door . Miss Stearne always locked this door at night but left the key in the lock . To-night the key had been withdrawn .