midday
`` Pick up yo ' shirt-tail offer the groun ' what I tore off , Jimmy , '' advised Billy , `` an ' take it home to yo ' ma . Aunt Minerva , '' he pleaded , following mournfully behind her , `` please do n't put me to bed ; the Major he don ' go to bed no daytimes ; I wo n't never get me no mo ' eggs to make rabbit 's eggs outer . '' The days flew rapidly by . Miss Minerva usually attempted to train Billy all the morning , and by the midday dinner hour she was so exhausted that she was glad to let him play in the front yard during the afternoon . Here he was often joined by the three children whose acquaintance he had made the day after his arrival , and the quartette became staunch friends and chums . All four were sitting in the swing one warm spring day , under the surveillance of Billy 's aunt , sewing on the veranda . `` Let 's tell tales , '' suggested Jimmy .