midnight
She was gone only a few minutes . But when she came back to her own room , she opened a private drawer in her bureau and hid something in it . Harriet then threw herself on her bed and lay for a long time with her eyes wide open , staring straight ahead of her . Just before midnight , when she heard the gay voices of her friends returning from the theater , and when Ruth tripped softly to her bedroom , Harriet lay with closed eyes , apparently fast asleep . The next morning Harriet was really ill . Her hand trembled so while she poured the breakfast coffee that she spilled some of it on the tablecloth . When Mr. Hamlin spoke to her sharply she burst into tears and left the room , leaving her father ashamed of himself , and the `` Automobile Girls '' so embarrassed that they ate the rest of their breakfast in painful silence .