two o'clock
`` I wish I 'd got my boots blacked down to the museum , '' said the victim , in a tone of disappointment , producing twenty-five cents , which was eagerly appropriated by the young extortioner . `` I say , Tommy , give us a treat , or we 'll peach , '' said one of the boys . Tom led the way to the ice-cream vender 's establishment , where with reckless extravagance he ordered a penny ice-cream all round for the half-dozen boys in his company , even then making a handsome thing out of the extra pay he had obtained from his rustic patron . By this time it was half-past two o'clock . So Ben learned from the City Hall clock . He was getting decidedly hungry . There were apple and cake stands just outside the railings , on which he could have regaled himself cheaply , but his appetite craved something more solid .