Nine o'clock
Of course there was but one answer to such a proposal , and they accepted it with the greatest pleasure , agreeing to meet him at the pier on the following morning . Then Mr. Weston and Paul went to the steamship office to engage passage to Europe for the coming Saturday , and the partners went to startle Mrs. Green and her daughter with the wonderful news . To their great surprise Mrs. Green , even though she did own one-sixth of the hundred dollars , decided that she could not afford to close up her basket-store for the day , even when she had been invited to make one of the pleasure-party ; but she was willing and anxious for Nelly to go , which was , perhaps , just as well . Nine o'clock was the time when Mr. Weston had said that he and Paul would meet the party at the pier ; but they , fearing lest they might be late , had arrived there a little before eight on the following morning , as full of pleasure as any five children that could have been found in New York City . Ben and Johnny presented very nearly the same gorgeous appearance they had on the night when they first called on Mrs. Green , while Dickey and Mopsey were attired in costumes that were models of their own idea of fashion . Nelly , who looked very sweet and modest in her clean gingham dress , had tried in vain to persuade her friends to go in their usual working-clothes , rather than put on such a striking array as they did ; but each one of the boys indignantly repelled the idea of showing so little regard for the gentleman who was to give them so much pleasure , by not making themselves look as beautiful as possible , and she could not persuade them to do differently . It was hardly more than half-past eight when they began to express their doubts as to whether Mr. Weston would arrive in time to take the steamer he had designated , and they were fearing lest they should be disappointed after all , when Paul and his father arrived .