nine o’clock
It was Sidonie 's business to sort the pearls and string them in necklaces of equal length , which were tied together to be sold to the small dealers . Then the young women would soon be there and they would show her exactly what she would have to do , for Mademoiselle Le Mire -LRB- always written in two words ! -RRB- did not interfere at all , but overlooked her business from a considerable distance , from that dark room where she passed her life reading newspaper novels . At nine o'clock the work-women arrived , five tall , pale-faced , faded girls , wretchedly dressed , but with their hair becomingly arranged , after the fashion of poor working-girls who go about bare-headed through the streets of Paris . Two or three were yawning and rubbing their eyes , saying that they were dead with sleep . At last they went to work beside a long table where each had her own drawer and her own tools . An order had been received for mourning jewels , and haste was essential .