nine o'clock
`` The writing is pretty bad , I 'll own up . '' `` The grammar is good this morning . You 're gradually mastering the art of stating a problem in arithmetic in English -- and that 's improvement . '' The hands of Jim Irwin 's dollar watch gradually approached the position indicating nine o'clock -- at which time the schoolmaster rapped on his desk and the school came to order . Then , for a while , it became like other schools . A glance over the room enabled him to enter the names of the absentees , and those tardy . There was a song by the school , the recitation in concert of _ Little Brown Hands _ , some general remarks and directions by the teacher , and the primary pupils came forward for their reading exercises .