two o'clock
asked Uncle Ben . `` The Bobolinks will be there anyway , but I am not so sure about the Blue Birds , '' said Ned , looking at Ruth . `` We had something to talk over in the Winter Nest , but we can postpone it until afterward , '' said Ruth . So at two o'clock all of the children were gathered about Uncle Ben to hear the news he had to tell them . Uncle Ben made a great fuss clearing his throat as if in preparation for an oration , then took a packet of letters from his pocket . `` The sample issue of your magazine made such a stir in various publishing circles , that one of the officers of the Publishers ' Association asked me Thursday night who was back of all this business that a lot of youngsters had started down at Oakdale . `` I did n't reply right away , and a man sitting near me said , ` Oh , some folks , probably , who have a smattering of how to do printing ! '