Monday noon
Billy had inquired of Bertie . `` I 'll tell you , '' said Bertie , `` if you 'll tell me who Epicharmos of Kos was . '' And upon this they embraced with helpless laughter . Then they reckoned up the hours left for them to learn Epicharmos of Kos in , -- between Monday noon and Thursday morning at nine , -- and their quailing chill increased . A tutor must be called in at once . So the grasshoppers , having money , sought out and quickly purchased the ant . Closeted with Oscar and his notes , they had , as Bertie put it , salted down the early Greek bucks by seven on Monday evening .