nine
o'clock
Mrs. Cricky always taught her own children . She had rented three little toad-stools , not any bigger than tacks , from Toadie Todson , and these the children used for desks . She often said that she thought round-top desks better than flat , for then the children were not so likely to lean their elbows on them . School began promptly as the sun rose ; nine o'clock would have seemed a lazy hour to the little Cricketses . The principal study Mrs. Cricky taught was Cheerfulness , much the same as you are taught reading and writing . She said that the whole duty of a cricket was to be cheerful . After this she gave them some lessons in Fear .