nine
o’clock
Then see , in one end of the room , three pine tables ; in the other , a closet and a deal dresser . The latter is filled with mugs , dishes , pipes , tankards , earthen and glass bottles , and is guarded at one end by a brass-hooped keg standing upon long legs . Everything is dim with tobacco smoke , but otherwise as clean as soap and sand can make it . Next , picture two sleepy , shabby-looking men , in wooden shoes , seated near the glowing fireplace , hugging their knees and smoking short , stumpy pipes ; Mynheer Kleef walking softly and heavily about , clad in leather knee breeches , felt shoes , and a green jacket wider than it is long ; then throw a heap of skates in the corner and put six tired well-dressed boys , in various attitudes , upon the wooden chairs , and you will see the coffee room of the Red Lion just as it appeared at nine o'clock upon the evening of December 6 , 184 -- . For supper , gingerbread again , slices of Dutch sausage , rye bread sprinkled with anise seed , pickles , a bottle of Utrecht water , and a pot of very mysterious coffee . The boys were ravenous enough to take all they could get and pronounce it excellent . Ben made wry faces , but Jacob declared he had never eaten a better meal .