Five o'clock
` I think , p ` raps , ' went on Teddy slowly , as he turned over on his back and looked up at the clear blue sky above him , ` that I was n't quite true about the bullets . I think it was six bullets and three sword cuts . I forget when I tell it how many it was ; but she said she did n't believe a word ! ' Five o'clock struck by the old church clock close by . Teddy was upon his feet in an instant , and with a wild whoop and shout he was scudding across the green , his curls flying in the wind , and his little feet hardly seeming to touch the ground . There was none in the village so quick-footed as Teddy , and for daring feats and downright pluck he held the foremost place . Perhaps this accounted for his popularity , perhaps it was his marvellous aptitude for telling stories , many of them wild productions from his fertile brain , but certain it was that he was the pet and the darling of the village , and none as yet had resisted his sway .