two
o'clock
She smiled as Marjorie rather bashfully uttered her request . `` Fifteen other girls have asked me the same thing , '' she replied . `` You may all go into Whitecliffe this afternoon with Miss Duckworth , and see what you can find at the Stores . '' Rejoicing in this little expedition , the favoured sixteen set off at two o'clock , escorted by the mistress . There had been great drifts on the high road , and the snow was dug out and piled on either side in glistening heaps . The white cliffs and hills and the grey sky and sea gave an unusual aspect to the landscape . A flock of sea-gulls whirled round on the beach , but of other birds there were very few .