a quarter to twelve
If she knew the secret of the world , she would not have told it to Ricky-ticky ; he was much too young . Men , in Poppy 's code of morality , were different . But this amazing , dreamy , interrogative look was not the sort of thing that Poppy was accustomed to , and for once in her life Poppy felt shy . `` I say , Rickets , there goes a quarter to twelve . _ Did _ I wake him out of his little sleep ? '' Poppy talked as much to the canary as to Rickets , which made it all quite proper . As for Rickman , he talked hardly at all .