noon
We continued without any further alarm till we were perfectly satisfied , and then retired to a little distance behind the wainscot , determined there to sleep , and to breakfast on the cake the next day . Early in the morning I waked , and calling my brothers , we all marched forward , and soon arrived at the delightful cake , where we highly enjoyed ourselves without the least disturbance , till our appetites were fully satisfied . We then retired , took a little run round some other parts of the house , but met with nothing worth relating . At noon we again made our way into the closet , intending to dine on the dish on which we breakfasted ; but , to our no small mortification , the delicious dainty was removed . This you may be sure was a sad disappointment ; yet as we were not extremely hungry , we had time to look about for more . We were not long in finding it ; for upon the same shelf from which the cake was removed , there was a round tin box , the lid of which was not quite close shut down ; into this we all crept , and were highly regaled with some nice lumps of sugar . But it would be endless to enumerate all the various repasts which we met with in this closet , sometimes terrified by the entrance of people , and sometimes comfortably enjoying ourselves without alarm : it is sufficient to inform you , that , unmindful of our mother 's advice , we continued to live upon the contents of the same cupboard for above a week ; when , one evening , as we were as usual hastening to find our suppers , Softdown , who happened to be first , ran eagerly to a piece of cheese , which he saw hanging before him .