noon
Nobody had ever heard of such a thing before ! There sat Aunt Izzie on the floor , with three long lamp-lighters stuck in her hair , playing , `` I 'm a genteel Lady , always genteel , '' in the jolliest manner possible . The children were so enchanted at the spectacle , that they could hardly attend to the game , and were always forgetting how many `` horns '' they had . Clover privately thought that Cousin Helen must be a witch ; and Papa , when he came home at noon , said almost the same thing . `` What have you been doing to them , Helen ? '' he inquired , as he opened the door , and saw the merry circle on the carpet . Aunt Izzie 's hair was half pulled down , and Philly was rolling over and over in convulsions of laughter .