four o'clock
` I do n't know , ' said the wretched Prime Minister , stooping to gather some more straws from the strawberry bed . ` But I do , ' said Billy . ` Now for breakfast . ' Before four o'clock that afternoon the Prime Minister 's head was a perfect bird 's - nest of straws . But he met Billy at the appointed place , and there was a boat -- and also Eliza . Billy carried his Lee-Metford . A wind blew from the shore , and the straws in the Prime Minister 's hair rustled like a barley-field in August .