about three o'clock in the afternoon
But mother 's going to look after them ; and mother 's a brick , I can tell you . '' The girls laughed very merrily , and asked what message her two adorers would like to send to Maggie . The two adorers only vouchsafed the remark , `` Do n't bother ; we 're going to be with boys now , and boys are worth all the girls in creation put together . '' The journey to town was taken without any special adventure , and at about three o'clock in the afternoon an omnibus containing the four girls , accompanied by Mr. Tristram , with their luggage piled on the roof , stopped at Aylmer House . Aneta had already arrived ; and as the girls entered with a new feeling of timidity through the wide-open doors they caught a glimpse of Maggie in the distance . There were other girls , absolute strangers to them , who peeped for a minute over the balusters and then retired from view . But , whatever the four strangers might have felt with regard to these interesting occurrences , every other feeling was brought into subjection by the appearance of Mrs. Ward on the scene .