eight
o'clock
-- `` Oh , please , Miss Prickett -- just a leetle bit of ham . '' Ellen followed her sister about , pulling at her skirt . She was dressed in white , and her hair was crimped , and tied with pink ribbons . At eight o'clock she was ordered up to bed and there was a great uproar , before , striking out in all directions , she was carried upstairs under Joanna 's stalwart arm . The Rye Quartet tactfully started playing to drown her screams , which continued for some time in the room overhead . The party did not break up till eleven , having spent five hours standing squeezed like herrings under the Ansdore beams , eating and drinking and talking , to the strains of `` The Blue Danube '' and `` See Me Dance the Polka . '' Local opinion was a little bewildered by the entertainment -- it had been splendid , no doubt , and high-class to an overwhelming degree , but it had been distinctly uncomfortable , even tiresome , and a great many people were upset by eating too much , since the refreshments had been served untiringly from six to eleven , while others had not had enough , being nervous of eating their food so far from a table , and clinging throughout the evening to their first helpings .