one
o'clock
Mornings , beside being exactly one hour shorter by the clock , could be still more abbreviated by the few moments gained by the disposal of hats and wraps , the dusting of desks , sharpening of pencils , and filling of ink-wells . The girls used a great many blocks of yellow paper called scratch-pads , and scratch-pads must be gotten down almost daily from the closet , dusted and distributed , there were paper cuffs to adjust , and there was sometimes a ten or fifteen-minute delay before the bills for the day began to come up . But the afternoons knew no such delays , the girls were tired , the air in the office stale . Every girl , consciously or not , sighed as she took her seat at one o'clock . The work in Front Office was entirely with bills . These bills were of the sales made in the house itself the day before , and those sent by mail from the traveling salesmen , and were accompanied by duplicate bills , on thin yellow sheets . It was Mrs. Valencia 's work , the easiest in the office , to compare originals and duplicates , and supply to the latter any item that was missing .