eleven o'clock
You will find it difficult at first , but it will come easier with practice , and as you get on I will give you a book on ` mental arithmetic , ' and you will find that there is nothing more useful than being able to make complicated calculations in your head . '' The next six months passed quickly with Jack Simpson . He started early with his father for the pit , and the hours there , which at first had seemed so long , slipped by rapidly as he multiplied , and added , and subtracted , finding that he could daily master longer lines of figures . Of an afternoon he played with the other pit boys , and after that worked steadily at his books till eleven o'clock , two hours after Bill Haden and his wife had gone to bed . Once a week he went in the evening to Mr. Merton , who was astonished at the progress that the boy was making , and willingly devoted an hour to explaining difficulties and helping him on with his work . Satisfied now that the boy was in earnest , Mr. Merton a few days afterwards took occasion , when Mr. Brook , the owner of the Vaughan mine , called in on school business , to tell him how one of the pit boys was striving to educate himself . `` He is really in earnest , Merton ; it is not a mere freak ? ''