nine o'clock
Patches of purple heath alternated with lilac scabious and pale hare-bells . The brake ferns were yellow-tipped here and there -- a forewarning of autumn -- and in one little nook I found a bed of luscious wild strawberries . My heart danced with my feet , and I wondered if the tramps ever felt as I did , in the summer mornings , after sleeping out under a hedge . I reached home by nine o'clock , and then there was a hubbub , and a calling out of , `` Here 's Muriel ! '' `` Why , Muriel , where have you sprung from ? '' `` What happened last night ? We were so frightened , but they told us at the station that it was an awful crowd at Paddington , and you must have missed the train , and of course we thought you would go back to Miss Black 's , but you ought to have wired . ''