seven
o'clock
Harry 's father came in presently , and , after a whispered conversation with his wife in the back-kitchen , offered to take a lantern and escort the girls back to Pendlemere . `` It 's a goodish step , but you 're rested now , maybe , and it 's no use risking missing the ` bus at Glenbury , and having to walk it after all . '' A very tired Diana , and an equally weary Wendy arrived at the school just when Miss Todd was getting absolutely desperate about their absence . She had sent Miss Chadwick to Athelton to meet the seven o'clock omnibus , and the teacher had returned to report that they had not come on it . Miss Todd forbore to scold two such limp wrecks , and sent them straight upstairs , with orders for hot baths , bed , and basins of bread-and-milk . Explanations were reserved for next day , and they did not get off scot free by any means . Miss Todd had an aggravatingly mathematical mind .