nine o'clock
I have a great habit of reading in that way . Well , I 'll bring you one from the library that you may mark just as much as you please . '' Ester sat herself down , with a very complacent air , beside the open window , with the Bible which had just been brought her , in her lap . Clearly she had been left alone that she might have opportunity for private devotion , and she liked the idea very much ; to be sure , she had not been in the habit of reading in the Bible in the morning , but that , she told herself , was simply because she never had time hardly to breathe in the mornings at home ; there she had beefsteak to cook , and breakfast rolls to attend to , she said disdainfully , as if beefsteak and breakfast rolls were the most contemptible articles in the world , entirely beneath the notice of a rational being ; but now she was in a very different atmosphere ; and at nine o'clock of a summer morning was attired in a very becoming pink wrapper , finished with the whitest of frills ; and sat at her window , a young lady of elegant leisure , waiting for the breakfast-bell . Of course she could read a chapter in the Bible now , and should enjoy it quite as much as Abbie did . She had never learned that happy little habit of having a much-used , much-worn , much-loved Bible for her own personal and private use ; full of pencil marks and sacred meanings , grown dear from association , and teeming with memories of precious communings . She had one , of course -- a nice , proper-looking Bible -- and if it chanced to be convenient when she was ready to read , she used it ; if not , she took Sadie 's , or picked up Julia 's from under the table , or the old one on a shelf in the corner , with one cover and part of Revelation missing -- it mattered not one whit to her which -- for there were no pencil marks , and no leaves turned down , and no special verses to find .