twelve o'clock
Mr. Solomons had told me in travelling to do as others did ; so I took a couple of cards , wrote my friend 's name on one and my own on the other , and pinned them to the table-cloth , as near the head of the captain 's table as I could find two vacant places . This secured us pleasant seats for the voyage , and Mr. Solomons was pleased with my thoughtfulness , as he called it . Before we reached Sandy Hook , he proposed to his room-mate to exchange berths with me ; but when Mr. Dunkswell was pointed out to him as the person whose state-room he was to share , he politely but regretfully declined to do so , leaving his reasons to be inferred , for he did not give them . When the gong sounded for lunch , at twelve o'clock , I found to my surprise that Mr. Dunkswell had taken the seat next to mine . I was rather prejudiced against him ; partly because he refused to exchange berths with my friend , and partly because Mr. Solomons ' room-mate did not like him well enough to exchange with me . He was very polite to me , and seemed to be strongly inclined to cultivate an intimacy with me . I could not do less than be civil to him .