eight o'clock
Sarah wept and protested and even tried to fight for her pets , but Winnie and the doctor were deaf to her pleas . Between them , they carried down every forlorn animal -- Sarah 's tastes ran to the lame and the halt and the blind , -- and then Doctor Hugh opened the window wide -LRB- Sarah had insisted on keeping both windows closed lest a draft strike the sick kittens -RRB- , kissed the back of his small sister 's head , for she persistently refused to turn her face toward him , and snapped off the light , leaving Sarah to cry herself to sleep . Rosemary and Shirley , in the next room , had slept peacefully through the racket . Unfortunately the next morning a call came for the doctor before eight o'clock and snatching a hasty breakfast , he was out of the house before the girls came down . He had no opportunity for the talk with Sarah that day for although he came home to lunch , she was , of course in school , and he did not get home in time for dinner . In fact , it was nearly nine o'clock before his car rolled into the drive . Aunt Trudy and Rosemary , Winnie told him , had gone to the movies as a Friday night treat , and Sarah and Shirley had gone to bed promptly at eight o'clock .