seven
A.M.
Peggy had asked the privilege of providing the birthday feast and understanding the pleasure it would give her to do so , Mrs. Harold had agreed most readily . So immediately after luncheon formation the party embarked at the foot of Maryland Avenue and a gayer one it would have been hard to find . Knowing the average boy 's appetite and the midshipman 's in particular , Mrs. Harold had , with commendable forethought , brought with her a big box of crullers , in nowise disturbed by the thought that it might spoil their appetites for the delayed luncheon . Breakfast is served at seven A.M. in Bancroft Hall , and the interval between that and twelve-thirty luncheon is long enough at best . If you add to that another hour and a half it is safe to conclude that starvation will be imminent . Hence her box of crullers to avoid such a calamity . The launch puffed and chugged its way up the river , running alongside the pretty Severndale dock sharp to the minute of four bells .