noon
In the first lesson Rosa forgot for a little while her animosity and became almost as one of the other pupils . The play was going to prove a great means of bringing them all together . Before Friday afternoon came the parts had all been assigned and the plans for the entertainment were well under way . Jed and Timothy had been as good as their word about giving the teacher riding-lessons , each vying with the other to bring a horse and make her ride at noon hour , and she had already had several good lessons and a long ride or two in company with both her teachers . The thirty-mile ride for Friday , then , was not such an undertaking as it might otherwise have been , and Margaret looked forward to it with eagerness . The little party of escort arrived before school was closed on Friday afternoon , and came down to the school-house in full force to take her away with them . The young man Forsythe , with his sister , the hostess herself , and a young army officer from the fort , comprised the party .