eight o'clock
in the morning
What the old gentleman _ did n't _ tell was that he was a trustee of the very school the boys were going to attend . Some day they were going to meet him again , but that is another story . Anyhow , it was very late when they arrived and they were piloted to their room by a pale young instructor who met them at the station in an ancient and wheezy Ford belonging to the school . They were the last boys to arrive , he told them , and school was to begin at eight o'clock in the morning . He warned them to be perfectly quiet as the boys were all asleep and it was against rules to speak or have the lights on after nine . But they were to be allowed a light to undress by , and he would come in in fifteen minutes and put it out . They undressed in about a tenth of the time it usually took for that ceremony , and even Bill , who forgot to brush his teeth and had to get up again to do it , was deep under the covers when Mr. Nealum , the instructor , came silently in , said goodnight without a smile , turned off the light , found the door by the aid of a big flashlight he carried and silently disappeared .