half past five
Uncle Jack dried his tears , carried him upstairs , and soon had him in breathless fits of laughter , while Carol so made the other Ruggleses forget themselves that they were presently talking like accomplished diners-out . Carol 's bed had been moved into the farthest corner of the room , and she was lying on the outside , dressed in a wonderful dressing-gown that looked like a fleecy cloud . Her golden hair fell in fluffy curls over her white forehead and neck , her cheeks flushed delicately , her eyes beamed with joy , and the children told their mother , afterwards , that she looked as beautiful as the angels in the picture books . There was a great bustle behind a huge screen in another part of the room , and at half past five this was taken away , and the Christmas dinner-table stood revealed . What a wonderful sight it was to the poor little Ruggles children , who ate their sometimes scanty meals on the kitchen table ! It blazed with tall colored candles , it gleamed with glass and silver , it blushed with flowers , it groaned with good things to eat ; so it was not strange that the Ruggleses , forgetting altogether that their mother was a McGrill , shrieked in admiration of the fairy spectacle . But Larry 's behavior was the most disgraceful , for he stood not upon the order of his going , but went at once for a high chair that pointed unmistakably to him , climbed up like a squirrel , gave a comprehensive look at the turkey , clapped his hands in ecstasy , rested his fat arms on the table , and cried with joy , `` I beat the hull lot o ' yer ! ''