twelve o’clock
If Rosie and Arthur had come in she would have asked them . But neither of them appeared . Indeed , they were not anywhere in the lines -- Maida looked very carefully . At twelve o'clock the school bell did not ring . In surprise , Maida craned out of the window to consult the big church clock . It agreed exactly with the tall grandfather 's clock in the living-room . Both pointed to twelve , then to five minutes after and ten and fifteen -- still no bell .