twelve o'clock
You 've got beautiful hair . A heap nicer than my yellow flax . '' ` Lena offered no remonstrance , and Corinda , who came at the call of her young mistress , immediately commenced brushing and curling the bright , wavy hair which Anna had rightly called beautiful . While this was going on , Grandma Nichols , who had always adhered to the good old puritanical custom of dining exactly at twelve o'clock , began to wonder why dinner was not forthcoming . She had breakfasted in Versailles , but like many travelers , could not eat much at a hotel , and now her stomach clamored loudly for food . Three times had she walked back and forth before what she supposed was the kitchen , and from which a savory smell of something was issuing , and at last determining to stop and reconnoiter , she started for the door . The northern reader at all acquainted with southern life , knows well that a kitchen there and a kitchen here are two widely different things -- ours , particularly in the country , being frequently used as a dining-room , while a southern lady would almost as soon think of eating in the barn as in her cook-room .