eleven o'clock
At about daybreak then my first duties would take me to the wood-heap , with axe and saw , and subsequently to the scullery with a heaped barrow-load of fuel for the day . Arrived there I polished the household 's boots and knives , washed my hands at Mrs. Gabbitas 's immaculate sink -- a more scrupulously clean housewife I have yet to meet -- and proceeded to the feeding and milking of Bella . Then I fed the horse , cleared out the stable , spruced myself up , and so to breakfast with ` The Gabbitular One . ' Three meat meals and two snacks -- ` the eleven o'clock ' and ` the four o'clock ' -- were the order of the day in this establishment . The snacks consisted of tea , which was also served at every meal , including dinner , and scones and butter ; the meals included always some sort of flesh food and varying adjuncts . After the lean dietary of St. Peter 's this regime seemed almost startling to me at first , a thing which could hardly be expected to last . But I adapted myself to it without difficulty or complaint , and thrived upon it greatly .