eleven o'clock
Her own life had always been quite unvexed by any sort of social complications , and she thought how good it would be to leave this talkative and staring little world and go back to Oldfields and its familiar interests and associations . But Dunport was a dear old place , and the warm-hearted captain a most entertaining guide , and by the time their walk was over , the day seemed a most prosperous and entertaining one . Aunt Nancy appeared to be much pleased with the plan for the afternoon , and announced that she had asked some of the young people to come to drink tea the next evening , while she greeted Nan so kindly that the home-coming was particularly pleasant . As for the captain , he was unmistakably happy , and went off down the street with a gentle , rolling gait , and a smile upon his face that fairly matched the June weather , though he was more than an hour late for the little refreshment with which he and certain dignified associates commonly provided themselves at eleven o'clock in the forenoon . Life was as regular ashore as on board ship with these idle mariners of high degree . There was no definite business among them except that of occasionally settling an estate , and the forming of decided opinions upon important questions of the past and future . The shadows had begun to grow long when the merry company of young people went up river with the tide , and Nan thought she had seldom known such a pleasure away from her own home .