half past six
The evening meal was to be supper and not dinner and it was to be especially early because it was to be cooked entirely by the young people . The Hancocks and the Watkinses were at the Mortons ' by five o'clock . Dr. Watkins came out , too , by special invitation , but he asked if he might be permitted to pay a visit to Elisabeth while the rest were preparing the meal , in view of the fact that he was not skilled as a cook , and felt himself to be too old to learn in one lesson . He was allowed to go with strict injunctions to be back at half past six and to bring Miss Merriam with him . The Ethels had planned beforehand what they were going to have for supper and the part that each was to take in the preparations . When the aprons had been taken off and the guests were all seated at the table the supper went swimmingly . The oysters were delicious , the salad sufficiently `` chunky '' to please Roger , the biscuits as light as a feather and the fruit mélange as good to look at as if it was to eat .