one o'clock
`` No , -- yes , -- '' said her cousin , absent-mindedly . `` Yes -- if you will please hand me the encyclopedia -- the one labeled cho -- '' Patty easily found the desired volume and carried it to her cousin , who said , `` Thank you , '' and then scribbled away as fast as she could until the clock struck twelve . `` Now , '' she said , thrusting her papers in her desk , `` I must go to the Bootblacks ' Dinner , '' and hastily putting on her jacket and gloves , -- she had kept on her hat , -- she flew out of the room , and almost instantly the street door closed behind her . Then Patty resumed her book and read until one o'clock , when a great gong that could be heard all over the house announced luncheon . Delighted at the thought of seeing the family at last , Patty skipped down-stairs . Aunt Hester was in the dining-room and greeted her niece cordially . `` Well , my dear , '' she said , `` I hope you found something to amuse you this morning .