eleven o'clock
How , then , could he be expected to be equal to four whole hours of stillness ? Yet that was what his grandfather required of him whenever he went to church . The order of the day was as follows : -- Leaving the house about ten o'clock in the big covered carriage , of which the Squire felt duly proud , as being the only one in the county , they drove leisurely into the village , where the horses were put up , and after the ladies had dropped in at a friend 's to make sure their bonnets and dresses were as they ought to be , they wended their way to the church , which , standing right in the centre of the village , was noisily summoning its worshippers to its seats as the big bell swung to and fro high up in the steeple . The church service began at eleven o'clock , and was of the most old-fashioned orthodox type . No organ had yet profaned the sanctity of that holy place , but instead thereof , a quartette of singers , selected seemingly more for the strength than the sweetness of their voices , occupied a large box right under the pulpit , and thence led the congregation by a whole bar at least , in the rendering of Tate and Brady 's metrical version of the Psalms . Very weird and sorrowful were many of the tunes . None were bright and inspiring like those Bert was wont to hear at home , and as choir and congregation vied with one another in the vigour of their singing , the little fellow was sometimes half-frightened at the bewildering noise they made .