nearly five o'clock
That morning the girls had gathered a quantity of wild flowers and vines for decorations , and Bumble said she had put them in water , but nobody knew where . So they hunted in every place they could think of , but to no avail . Bob helped them and they searched the kitchen , the cellar , and even the barn , but no flowers could they find . So , as it was nearly five o'clock they gave it up and ran up-stairs to dress for the party . And then Patty discovered that the bath tub was filled with the missing flowers . At risk of being caught by the guests in their every-day attire , Nan and Patty flew down-stairs and hastily arranged the flowers as well as they could , and then returned to make their toilettes . It was now after five , but fortunately no guests had yet arrived .