midnight
`` I ai n't havin ' no playin ' on the way home , still ! When school is done , you come right away home then , to help me or your mom , or I 'll learn you once ! '' But it happened that Miss Margaret , in her reign at `` William Perm '' school-house , had introduced the innovation of closing school on Friday afternoons at half-past three instead of four , and Tillie , with bribes of candy bought with part of her weekly wage of ten cents , secured secrecy as to this innovation from her little sister and brother who went to school with her -- making them play in the school-grounds until she was ready to go home with them . Before Miss Margaret had come to New Canaan , Tillie had done her midnight reading by the light of the kerosene lamp which , after every one was asleep , she would bring up from the kitchen to her bedside . But this was dangerous , as it often led to awkward inquiries as to the speedy consumption of the oil . Candles were safer . Tillie kept them and a box of matches hidden under the mattress .