twelve o'clock
`` Why ca n't Teddie let us get up a ladies ' rifle corps ? '' `` Only wish she would , just ! It would be prime , '' agreed the others . Dinner was ready by twelve o'clock -- not at all too early for a company that had breakfasted at seven . Despite the purloining of the leg of mutton there was enough to go round , and everybody decided that the cooks deserved proficiency badges . The servers also did their work promptly , and removed plates and dishes with the maximum of speed and the minimum of clatter . By half-past one everything was washed up and polished , and the kitchen department in apple-pie order .