About five o'clock
The sailors had been doing various odd jobs around the house on Sundays ever since they came , but had not worked openly until one particular Sunday in May . All day they hoped that someone would come and stop them from working , or at least beg of them to desist , but the hot afternoon wore away , and there was no movement around any of the houses on the plain . The guardian of the morals of the neighborhood , Mrs. Maggie Corbett , had taken notice of them all right , but she was a wise woman and did not use militant methods until she had tried all others ; and she believed that she had other means of teaching the sailor twins the advantages of Sabbath observance . About five o'clock the twins grew so uproariously hungry they were compelled to quit their labors , but when they reached their house they were horrified to find that a wandering dog , who also had no respect for the Sabbath , had depleted their `` grub-box , '' overlooking nothing but the tea and sugar , which he had upset and spilled when he found he did not care to eat them . Then it was the oxen 's turn to laugh , for the twins ' wrath was all turned upon each other . Everything that they had said about the oxen , it seemed , was equally true of each other -- each of them had confidently expected the other one to lock the door . There was nothing to do but to go across to the Black Creek Stopping - House for supplies .