six in
the morning
The dinner was a great success , although the soup was rather hot , from Ethel , in her anxiety , having let too much pepper slip in ; and the cabinet pudding came up all over the dish , instead of preserving its shape , it having stuck to the mold , and Maud having shaken it so violently that it had come out with a burst and broken up into pieces , which had caused a flood of tears on the part of the little cook . It did not taste any the worse , however . And when the little girls came in to dessert in their white frocks , looking rather shy , and very scorched in the face , from their anxious peeping into pots to see that all was going on well , they were received with a cheer by the boys ; and their friends were not a little astonished to hear that the dinner they had partaken of had been entirely prepared and cooked by these little women . After four months ' gardening , Mr. Hardy placed the boys with a farmer who lived a mile distant , and made an arrangement for them to breakfast there , so that they now remained at work from six in the morning until twelve . Here they obtained some idea of harnessing and driving horses , of plowing , and of the other farming operations . They now only went four days a week to the carpenter 's , for their papa had one day said to them when they were alone with him before dinner : `` Do not put on your working clothes this afternoon , boys ; I am going to take you out with me , but do not say anything about it at dinner . I will tell you why afterward . ''