three o’clock
`` We ca n't upset the boat , '' remarked young Pedgift , with sardonic gravity . `` It 's a lifeboat , unfortunately . May I venture to suggest putting something into the reverend gentleman 's mouth , Mr. Armadale ? It 's close on three o'clock . What do you say to ringing the dinner-bell , sir ? '' Never was the right man more entirely in the right place than Pedgift Junior at the picnic . In ten minutes more the boat was brought to a stand-still among the reeds ; the Thorpe Ambrose hampers were unpacked on the roof of the cabin ; and the current of the curate 's eloquence was checked for the day .