the hour of one
`` Nobody cared for me , and I cared for nobody . I wished to take a peep at the world , and determined to travel over as much of its surface as I possibly could ; and please myself as to the method I employed to effect my object . `` I have been in a great many foreign countries , and seen a great many strange people ; and been an actor in many extraordinary scenes ; and I have come to the conclusion , that the world after all is not such a terrible bad world to live in , and that the very worst of its inhabitants are not entirely without some good . '' As she finished this sentence , the church clock proclaimed to the whole town the hour of one . Miss Wilhelmina sprang from her chair , exclaiming , `` Holloa ! that 's my dinner-hour . It will take me ten minutes to get home , and the fish will be quite spoilt .