about
twelve o'clock
But , indeed , nature herself seemed to have been his vintner , and , at his birth , charged him so thoroughly with an irritable , brandy-like disposition , that all subsequent potations were needless . When I consider how , amid the stillness of my chambers , Nippers would sometimes impatiently rise from his seat , and stooping over his table , spread his arms wide apart , seize the whole desk , and move it , and jerk it , with a grim , grinding motion on the floor , as if the table were a perverse voluntary agent , intent on thwarting and vexing him , I plainly perceive that , for Nippers , brandy-and-water were altogether superfluous . It was fortunate for me that , owing to its peculiar cause -- indigestion -- the irritability and consequent nervousness of Nippers were mainly observable in the morning , while in the afternoon he was comparatively mild . So that , Turkey 's paroxysms only coming on about twelve o'clock , I never had to do with their eccentricities at one time . Their fits relieved each other , like guards . When Nippers 's was on , Turkey 's was off ; and _ vice versa _ . This was a good natural arrangement , under the circumstances .