twelve o’clock before
`` I am downright famished , '' the sailor said as he came up . `` I would not have believed it if I had not seen it . How on earth did you manage it ? '' `` Not by rubbing pieces of wood together , Wilcox , but by filling my watch-glass with water and using it as a burning-glass ; it lit the wood in less than a minute ; only it would not do , you know , unless the sun was right overhead , and I had to wait until twelve o'clock before I tried the experiment . '' The meat was cut up into three huge portions , and using biscuits as plates they speedily set to work upon it . `` You have pretty well got rid of the salt , '' Wilcox said after his first mouthful . `` It is well-nigh as good as roast meat .