ten o'clock
We occupied a very picturesque old house ; but , as with most picturesque old houses , its advantages were chiefly external . There were many holes and cracks and crevices within its creaking framework . Frogs , who had lost their way and taken the wrong turning , would suddenly discover themselves in the middle of our dining - room , apparently quite as much to their own surprise and annoyance as to ours . A numerous company of rats and mice , remarkably fond of physical exercise , had fitted the place up as a gymnasium for themselves ; and our kitchen , after ten o'clock , was turned into a blackbeetles ' club . They came up through the floor and out through the walls , and gambolled there in their light-hearted , reckless way till daylight . The rats and mice Amenda did not object to . She said she liked to watch them .