ten o'clock
`` These lessons begun , and not one of them finished off ! '' she exclaimed . `` Let us see how long they will take you . First the exercise , we will allow a quarter of an hour for that ; five minutes will prove your sum ; and the verb , an old one you say and very nearly perfect , two minutes for that : less than twenty-five minutes , Willie , and you will be so perfectly prepared that you will be longing for ten o'clock to-morrow , and Mr. Glengelly to come , all the rest of the evening . '' I could not help laughing at the notion of my pining for Mr. Glengelly 's arrival , and a laugh is an excellent stepping-stone out of the sulks . My mother put her watch on the table , and stayed in the room , helping me by quiet sympathizing superintendence , and I set to work with such earnestness that I had completed my tasks in twenty minutes , and was off to the play-room without a trace of my wrong temper , as eager to join my cousin in the carpentry as if nothing had gone wrong between us , and only rejoicing that my lessons were over at last , without troubling myself to remember that the trial of Aleck 's being so much quicker than myself at his studies was sure to recur again and again , and that , unless my dislike to his superiority could be conquered and stamped out , I should soon find every-day trouble in my every-day work . And in truth the conquering and stamping out of such feelings as these is no easy task .