one o'clock
One o'clock was the daily training hour in the playing-fields , and Saturday afternoon four weeks hence was the date fixed for the School sports . It took some days for Railsford 's house to accommodate itself to the new order of things imposed upon it . Indeed , it took twenty-four hours for Grandcourt generally to comprehend the calamity which had befallen the disgraced house . When one o'clock arrived on the first afternoon , and neither Ainger , Wake , Wignet , Tilbury , Herapath , nor the other familiar frequenters of the playing-field , put in an appearance , speculation began to pass about as to the cause of their absence . Some of Bickers 's boys knew there had been a `` howling shine '' about something . But it was not till Smedley , impatient to settle some question relating to the sports , sent his fag to fetch Ainger that it became generally known what had happened . The fag returned with an important face .