half past eight before
`` The boys are coming to-night , you know , and you can all help me with the spread . No , you need n't waste time arguing -- you 're going to stay . '' And when Betty spoke in that tone , no one dared dispute with her . It was half past eight before the boys came , and the girls were getting so nervous and impatient they could hardly sit still . `` Do you suppose they could have forgotten ? '' Amy was beginning , when the sound of masculine voices in excited conversation floated to them on the breeze , and she stopped short to listen . `` They 're coming , '' cried Mollie .