noon
`` We 'll rowl it down to the beach , '' said Paddy , when he had taken another taste of it . He gave Dick a sip . The boy spat it out , and made a face , then , pushing the barrel before them , they began to roll it downhill to the beach , Emmeline running before them crowned with flowers . They had dinner at noon . Paddy knew how to cook fish , island fashion , wrapping them in leaves , and baking them in a hole in the ground in which a fire had previously been lit . They had fish and taro root baked , and green cocoa-nuts ; and after dinner Mr Button filled a big shell with rum , and lit his pipe . The rum had been good originally , and age had improved it .