one o'clock
`` All is ready , '' he said . `` Take and eat , if my food is not too rude . '' Herbert did eat , and with appetite . He was a growing boy , whose appetite seldom failed him , and he had been working hard since breakfast , which he had taken at six , while it was now one o'clock . No wonder he was hungry . Ralph looked on with approval . `` You are the first that has shared my meal for many a long day , '' he said .