an hour after midnight
What shall I do -- what shall I do ? '' `` Stop that sort of talk and see how your dead boy stares at you ! Look well , Robin , you see a real live Yankee girl ! '' Even the most cultured Lady Principals do not enjoy being roused from their slumbers , an hour after midnight , by the tooting of a motor car beneath their bedroom windows . It was annoying to have to dress again and descend to a dimly-lighted reception room to receive a new pupil who had missed a train , on the route , and misdirected her telegram . Nor was there anything prepossessing about this especial girl , whose clothes steamed with moisture and whose travel-soiled cheeks were streaked by raindrops and tears . So it was small wonder that Dorothy 's reception by Miss Muriel Tross-Kingdon was decidedly cool and crisp .