two o'clock
And since I was a new servant , I went back home very diligently without my master seeing me . I decided I 'd sweep out a little there , since that 's what the place really needed , but I could n't find anything to sweep with . Then I began to think about what I should do , and I decided to wait until noon for my master because if he came he might bring something to eat ; but that turned out to be a waste of time . When I saw that it was getting to be two o'clock and he still had n't come , I began to be attacked by hunger . So I locked the door and put the key where he told me to , and then I went back to my old trade . With a low , sickly voice , my hands crossed over my chest , and with my eyes looking up to heaven and God 's name on my tongue , I began to beg for bread at the doors of the biggest houses I saw . But I 'd been doing this almost from the cradle -- I mean I learned it from that great teacher , the blind man , and I turned out to be a pretty good student -- so even though this town had never been very charitable , and it had been a pretty lean year besides , I handled myself so well that before the clock struck four I had that many pounds of bread stored away in my stomach and at least two more in my sleeves and inside my shirt .