twelve o'clock
There was no one in the great wide kitchen when the party arrived on this occasion , and Miss Grey sat down to wait for Mrs Hatchard , while the children made their usual tour of admiring examination . They had seen every object in the room hundreds of times before , but how interesting they always were ! The high-backed settle on each side of the fire was dark with age , and bright with the toil of Mrs Hatchard 's hands ; the heavy oak rafters were so conveniently low that the children could see the farmer 's gun , a bunch of dips , a pair of clogs , a side of bacon kept there as in a sort of storehouse . At the end of the room opposite the wide hearth was the long narrow deal table , where the farmer and his men all dined together at twelve o'clock , for they were old-fashioned people at Hatchard 's Farm ; and behind the door hung the cuckoo clock , before which the children never failed to stand in open-mouthed expectation if it were near striking the hour . On all this the sun darted his rays through the low casement , and failed to find , for all his keen glances , one speck of dust . Miss Grey sat in the window-seat looking absently out at the marigolds and asters in the gay garden , when she felt a little hand suddenly placed in hers , and , turning round , saw David , his face crimson with suppressed excitement : `` Come , '' he said , pulling her gently , `` come and look here . '' He led her to the hearth , and pointed speechless to something which looked like a small flannel bundle in a basket .