three o’clock
in the morning
The boy raised his eyes slowly and fixed them vacantly upon her , then suddenly his face grew dark with blood . `` So , you have n't got anything to say to us , my lad ? '' said Bonaparte , momentarily forgetting his dignity , and bending forward with a little snarl . `` But what I mean is just this , my lad -- when it takes a boy three-quarters of an hour to fill a salt-pot , and when at three o'clock in the morning he goes knocking about the doors of a loft , it 's natural to suppose there 's mischief in it . It 's certain there is mischief in it ; and where there 's mischief in , it must be taken out , '' said Bonaparte , grinning into the boy 's face . Then , feeling that he had fallen from that high gravity which was as spice to the pudding , and the flavour of the whole little tragedy , he drew himself up . `` Waldo , '' he said , `` confess to me instantly , and without reserve , that you ate the peaches . ''