four o'clock
And when one day she asked that she might go back to the Ursulines ' convent where her childish days were spent , only to go this time as a nun , Monsieur le Juge and Tante Louise thought it quite the proper and convenient thing to do ; for how were they to know the secret of that Mardi Gras day ? If you never lived in Mandeville , you can not appreciate the thrill of wholesome , satisfied joy which sweeps over its inhabitants every evening at five o'clock . It is the hour for the arrival of the `` New Camelia , '' the happening of the day . As early as four o'clock the trailing smoke across the horizon of the treacherous Lake Pontchartrain appears , and Mandeville knows then that the hour for its siesta has passed , and that it must array itself in its coolest and fluffiest garments , and go down to the pier to meet this sole connection between itself and the outside world ; the little , puffy , side-wheel steamer that comes daily from New Orleans and brings the mail and the news . On this particular day there was an air of suppressed excitement about the little knot of people which gathered on the pier . To be sure , there were no outward signs to show that anything unusual had occurred . The small folks danced with the same glee over the worn boards , and peered down with daring excitement into the perilous depths of the water below .