one o'clock
`` She does n't look as if she _ could _ play , '' said Philip . `` Come on , Tom , I want to let the rabbits out for a run after I 've given these mulberry leaves to the silk-worms . '' The children had planned to have tea in Weedon Woods that afternoon , but before dinner-time the sky became so cloudy and angry-looking that their mother feared a storm , and said that it would be wiser to put off their picnic until another day . And at one o'clock the rain began -- down it came in torrents , then hail , then rain again ; and the children stood at the windows and watched it , feeling glad that they had not started for the picnic . `` We should n't have liked the wood today , '' said Dan , pressing up rather closely to Mary as a loud rumble of thunder sounded very near to them . `` No , '' said Mary , `` I 'm glad mother would n't let us go ; we should have been soaked through by this time . '' Just then Ellen , the housemaid , put her head in at the door .