nine o'clock
`` Yes , indeed . Oh ! Aunt Deborah , this has been a splendid day , after all , '' the little girl responded , thinking of Hero safe at home , of Winifred 's visit , and of the pink luster cup that some day would be her own . Ruth was up in good season the next morning , and Aunt Deborah was quite willing for her little niece to take Hero for a morning call on Winifred ; and it was not yet nine o'clock when Ruth pushed open the gate that led from the alley into the Merrill 's ' garden . The stable stood beside this gate , and was some distance from the house . Fluff , the pony , had a fine box stall with a window looking into the garden . Fluff belonged to Gilbert ; but Gilbert had grown so tall that he thought the pony too small for his use , and on Winifred 's last birthday had given her all right and title to the little gray pony , whose thick mane and plume-like tail had made the name `` Fluff '' most appropriate .