one o'clock
It was a swell Saturday afternoon at our house with bright sunlight on the snow and the weather just right for coasting . I was standing by our kitchen sink , getting ready to start wiping a big stack of dishes which my mom had just rinsed with steaming hot water out of the teakettle . I was just reaching for a drying towel when Mom said , `` Better wash your hands first , Bill , '' which I had forgotten to do like I once in a while do . Right away I washed my hands with soap , in our bathroom , came back and grabbed the towel off the rack by the range , and started in carefully wiping the dishes , not exactly wanting to , on account of the clock on our mantel-shelf said it was one o'clock , and the gang was supposed to meet on Bumblebee hill right that very minute , with our sleds , and we were going to have the time of our lives coasting , and rolling in the snow , and making huge balls and snow men and everything ... . You should have seen those dishes fly -- that is , they _ started _ to ! `` Be careful , '' Mom said , and meant it . `` Those are my best dinner plates . ''