twelve o'clock
At some of the houses -- where they ca n't possibly know me -- I sha n't be frightened , and I shall reel off the whole rigmarole , invalid , babe , and all . Perhaps I shall say even the last sentence , if I can remember it : ` We sound every chord in the great mac-ro-cosm of satisfaction . '' This conversation took place on a Friday afternoon at Emma Jane 's house , where Rebecca , to her unbounded joy , was to stay over Sunday , her aunts having gone to Portland to the funeral of an old friend . Saturday being a holiday , they were going to have the old white horse , drive to North Riverboro three miles away , eat a twelve o'clock dinner with Emma Jane 's cousins , and be back at four o'clock punctually . When the children asked Mrs. Perkins if they could call at just a few houses coming and going , and sell a little soap for the Simpsons , she at first replied decidedly in the negative . She was an indulgent parent , however , and really had little objection to Emma Jane amusing herself in this unusual way ; it was only for Rebecca , as the niece of the difficult Miranda Sawyer , that she raised scruples ; but when fully persuaded that the enterprise was a charitable one , she acquiesced . The girls called at Mr. Watson 's store , and arranged for several large boxes of soap to be charged to Clara Belle Simpson 's account .