four o'clock
My mother tells me that she was never so pleased in her life . One o'clock struck ; two o'clock ; three o'clock ; and still no Wenuses . Faint sounds were now audible from the crockery department , and then a hissing , which passed by degrees into a humming , a long , loud droning noise . It resembled as nearly as anything the boiling of an urn at a tea-meeting , and awoke in the breasts of my wife and her army an intense and unconquerable longing for tea , which was accentuated as four o'clock was reached . Still no Wenuses . Another hour dragged wearily on , and the craving for tea had become positively excruciating when five o'clock rang out . At that moment , the glass doors of the crockery department were flung open , and out poured a procession of Wenuses smiling , said my mother , with the utmost friendliness , dressed as A.B.C. girls , and bearing trays studded with cups and saucers .