three o'clock
`` It ca n't ! '' exclaimed Polly , in dismay . But there was one of the white-capped maids coming across the lawn , with the summons to go in to luncheon , which was to be served at an earlier hour than usual . And after that , no one had more than a moment in which to think , for at three o'clock the garden party was to open , and the fair to be in full progress . Long before that time , the avenues and streets leading out to the Horatio King estate were thronged with children of all ages and sizes ; most of them with their nurse-maids , all bound to the scene of the garden party , their small purses dangling by chains from their arms , or carried carefully in their hands . For was n't this to help poor children who did n't have any pleasant homes , but lived in stuffy tenement houses , to go out into the broad , beautiful country , where they could race in the fields and play with the chickens , and pick all the flowers they wanted to ? And so , ever since the announcement had been made that such a fund was to be raised , there had been much hoarding of pennies , and no slight self-denial on the part of the younger element , who would naturally be drawn into the plan .