five o'clock
Pushing his book towards him , Mr. Malcolm said , in a quiet , determined manner : `` You know the conditions , Lewie , on which you leave this room : they will not change , if we remain here together till to-morrow morning . This lesson must be learned and recited perfectly , before you taste any food . '' Lewie murmured that `` there was one good thing -- his teacher would have to fast too . '' `` As for me , I never take but two meals a day , '' said Mr. Malcolm ; `` I can wait till five o'clock very well for my dinner ; and should I be very hungry , your mother will doubtless give me something to eat . '' Through most of the afternoon , Lewie sat scrawling figures with his pencil on some paper which was lying near , and really beginning to suffer from the `` keen demands of appetite . '' After sitting thus an hour or two , he suddenly said : `` Give me the book , then , if there is no other way ! I can learn that lesson in five minutes , if I have a mind . ''