twelve o'clock
The other boys would have a right to mock you if you did not do it ; and as soon as the class was dismissed you went to your desk as haughtily as you could , and began putting your books and your slate and your inkstand together , with defiant glances at the teacher ; and then when twelve o'clock came , or four o'clock , and the school was let out , you tucked the bundle under your arm and marched out of the room , with as much majesty as could be made to comport with a chip hat and bare feet ; and as you passed the teacher you gave a twist of the head that was meant to carry dismay to the heart of your enemy . I note all these particulars carefully , so as to show the boys of the present day what fools the boys of the past were ; though I think they will hardly believe it . My boy was once that kind of fool ; but not twice . He left school with all his things at twelve o'clock , and he returned with them at one ; for his father and mother did not agree with him about the teacher 's behavior in putting him back . No boy 's father and mother agreed with him on this point ; every boy returned in just the same way ; but somehow the insult had been wiped out by the mere act of self-assertion , and a boy kept his standing in the world as he could never have done if he had not left school when he was put back . The Hydraulic ran alongside of the Academy , and at recess the boys had a good deal of fun with it , one way and another , sailing shingles with stones on them , and watching them go under one end of the culvert and come out of the other , or simply throwing rocks into the water . It does not seem very exciting when you tell of it , but it really was exciting ; though it was not so exciting as to go down to the mills , where the Hydraulic plunged over that great wheel into the Miami .