3 a.m.
But you 've no need to flaunt your noble deed . ` Do good by stealth , and blush to find it fame ' , in fact . '' If Gipsy , before she went to bed that night , contrived to tie a long piece of string to the bell chain in the passage , and to secure the other end to her bedpost , she did not blazon the fact abroad , and the string was so neatly laid against the edges of skirting board and under mats that nobody happened to notice it . At 3 a.m. , when the whole of Briarcroft was wrapped in deepest slumbers , there suddenly came the great _ clang-clang _ of the fire bell , resounding and echoing through the quiet house . Everybody woke in a hurry , and the head of each dormitory at once switched on the electric light and assumed command . The well-trained girls dipped their towels in water and put them over their mouths , threw the red blankets from their beds round their shoulders , and lined up along the corridor . Miss Lindsay was already there , and gave the command to march , and away trooped the boarders downstairs and out of the front door on to the lawn , where they ranged themselves to be counted .