twelve o'clock
Just look how fast its poor little heart is beating with fright ! Is n't it cruel that any living creature should be as terrified as that ! '' Jessie was ashamed for Miss Grace to know that she was almost as terrified of the toad as the toad was of her , so she stroked it , though very reluctantly , and the coldness of it made her jump so at first , that she thought she could never , never touch it again ; but she tried not to be foolish , and she stroked its little head , and after that she did not mind it a bit , though she was glad Miss Grace did not ask her to carry it . When they got back to the house they found two glasses of milk and a plate of biscuits in Miss Grace 's room awaiting them , and after they had taken them , Miss Grace took down a book and read to Jessie , and Jessie , who already knew her letters and some of the easiest words , read a little to Miss Grace , and before she thought that half of the morning was gone , twelve o'clock had struck , and it was time to dress and run off to meet her grandfather at the four cross-roads . When Jessie got to her place by the signpost , her grandfather was just coming along the road towards her . In his hand he held a big bunch of white roses and beautiful dark-green leaves . `` Oh , how lovely ! ''