half past twelve
Inspection proved that they were 36 ; now 36 does n't do me much good as a waist line ! There is a net deficit of eight tragic inches , and eight inches short in one waistband is a catastrophe . Yet there we were . It was half past twelve . In six hours more we must be on our way to the front -- to the great adventure . Uniforms were imperative . And there was the hiatus !