eight in the morning
`` At the risk of being grievously misunderstood , Doctor Ponsford , '' replied Railsford slowly and nervously , yet firmly , `` I must decline to answer that question . '' `` Very well , sir , '' said the doctor briskly ; `` this conversation is at an end -- for the present . '' Thanks to youth and strong constitutions , Arthur and Dig escaped any very serious consequences from their night 's exposure at Wellham Abbey . They slept like dormice from eight in the morning to six in the afternoon , and woke desperately hungry , with shocking colds in their heads , and with no inclination whatever to get up and prepare their work for the following day . The doctor came and felt their pulses , and looked at their tongues , and listened to their coughs and sneezes , and said they were well out of it . Still , as they assured him with loud catarrhic emphasis that they felt rather bad still , and very shaky , he gave them leave to remain in bed for the rest of the day , and petrified them where they lay by the suggestion of a mustard poultice a-piece . They protested solemnly that the malady from which they suffered was mental rather than physical , and required only rest and quiet to cure it .