two o'clock
`` It is , '' declared Polly , `` a great deal better than just between . It makes it seem more important . '' David laughed , and then , spying the piano , admired Polly 's new instrument to her full satisfaction , and ended by sitting down and singing a little song which she called `` another birthday present . '' Shortly before two o'clock the birthday guests began to arrive at Mrs. Jocelyn 's beautiful home . The two mothers , one in white and the other in gray , and the two girls , dressed exactly alike in soft white wool , with pink sashes and ribbons , received informally in the east drawing-room , and when the girls and boys were all there Mrs. Dudley started a game . They were in the midst of the fun , when Polly , glancing at Ilga Barron , was troubled to see an ugly scowl . The children were in a circle , alternate girls and boys , secretly passing a ring from hand to hand , and it chanced that Ilga had a place between Otto Kriloff and Cornelius O'Shaughnessy .