eight o'clock
Ruth saw that she had prevailed and gave her head a triumphant toss . `` Well , I wo n't , so there ! And what 's more I ca n't stand here wasting time like this another minute . I have a hundred things to do before eight o'clock , so good-bye ! Be sure you 're on time for we wo n't wait a second , and if you do n't arrive none of us will ever speak to you again , so there ! '' Nan stood dumbly stubbing her toe into a little mound of snow quite a minute after Ruth had left her . She had not even glanced up when , in response to her friend 's last declaration , she had said , `` Very well ; I 'll be on hand , '' and her voice had sounded so flat and lifeless that Ruth thought it better to hasten off before the words could be recalled .