ten o'clock
That was what worried me most , -- could I come across with the standin ' spiel ? But , believe me , I wa 'n' t trustin ' to any offhand stuff ! I 'd got to know in advance what I meant to feed 'em , line for line and word for word . By ten o'clock that night I had it all down on paper too -- and perhaps I did n't chew the penholder and leak some from the brow while I was doin ' it ! Then came the rehearsin ' . Say , you should have seen me risin ' dignified behind the washstand in my room , strikin ' a Bill Bryan pose , and smilin ' calm at the bedposts as I launched out on my speech . Not that I was tryin ' to chuck any flowers of oratory .