eight o'clock
`` That 's eight bells -- twelve o'clock , '' said the pretty hostess , with a laugh . `` That 's a new marine clock Uncle Amos gave me for the Gem . It keeps time just as it is done on shipboard . '' `` And when it 's eight o'clock it 's twelve , '' murmured Grace . `` Do you have to do subtraction and addition every time the clock strikes ? '' `` No , you see , eight bells is the highest number . It is eight bells at eight o'clock , at four o'clock and at twelve -- either at night , or in the daytime . ''