a quarter to five
She was not at home at half-past four . Mrs. Donovan looked uneasily at the clock . It was not like Mary Rose to be so dilatory . At a quarter to five Mrs. Donovan put on her hat and walked up the street . She would go and meet Mary Rose . Perhaps the child had been kept after school , perhaps she had stopped to play in spite of the fact that she had been told she must come straight home from school always . Mrs. Donovan walked the six blocks to the Lincoln School without seeing as much as the hem of Mary Rose 's gingham skirt .