ten o'clock
Put them into one room , and let them fight it out together . '' The motion was passed with something of that awe ever attending a Napoleonic decree , and passed , too , with the utmost good-breeding ; for nobody mentioned the Kilkenny cats . The matron compressed her lips and lifted her brows , but said nothing ; having exhausted her own resources , she was the more willing to take the superior attitude of good-natured scepticism . The moving was speedily accomplished ; and at ten o'clock , one morning , Mrs. Blair was ushered into the room where her forced colleague sat by the window , knitting . There the two were left alone . Miss Dyer looked up , and then heaved a tempestuous sigh over her work , in the manner of one not entirely surprised by its advent , but willing to suppress it , if such alleviation might be . She was a thin , colorless woman , and infinitely passive , save at those times when her nervous system conflicted with the scheme of the universe .