nine
o'clock
` In my days , ' she would grumble , ` it used to be God Almighty first , your parents next , and school last . Now it 's all a red mark first , your parents and God Almighty nowhere . ' The red mark was the symbol of punctuality , set opposite the child 's name in the register . To gain it , she must be in her place at nine o'clock to the stroke . A moment after nine , and only the black mark was attainable . Twenty to ten , and the duck 's egg of the absent was sorrowfully inscribed by the Recording Angel , who in Bloomah 's case was a pale pupil-teacher with eyeglasses . But it was the Banner which loomed largest on the school horizon , intensifying Bloomah 's anxiety and her mother 's grievance .