six o'clock
`` I thought you might , '' said she , `` seeing you are so d -- d civil to everybody . '' Had it not been for this friendly hint , I really believe I should have touched my hat to a drummer . Having gone through this ordeal , I reached the inn at Plymouth , where I found my captain , and presented my father 's letter . He surveyed me from top to toe , and desired the pleasure of my company to dinner at six o'clock . `` In the mean time , '' he said , `` as it is now only eleven , you may go aboard , and show yourself to Mr Handstone , the first lieutenant , who will cause your name to be entered on the books , and allow you to come back here to dine . '' I bowed and retired . And on my way to Mutton Cove was saluted by the females , with the appellation of Royal Reefer -LRB- midshipman -RRB- , and a Biscuit Nibbler ; but all this I neither understood nor cared for .