two o'clock
When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard he called for his son , and passed a careful hand over Peter 's head , and then he declared that Speug was a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that there lay before him a long and useful life . THE BAILIE 'S DOUBLE Muirtown is not a large city , and schoolboys of high principle and domestic habits used to go home in the dinner-hour and take the meal with their anxious mothers , who seized the opportunity of repairing the rents made in their clothes since morning , and giving them good advice on their behaviour . Thoroughly good boys , who had been tossed to and fro , much against their will , in the tempest of morning play , were glad to go into harbour and come back at two o'clock , not only revictualled , but also re-fitted and re-painted for the troubled voyage of the afternoon ; and boys not so entirely good as the Dowbiggins , and other models of propriety , still appreciated the home trip , because , although there might be an embarrassing review of garments , and awkward questions might be asked about a mark on the face , there was always a toothsome dainty for a growing laddie , weary with intellectual work and the toils of a snow-fight . As the business of a horsedealer took Mr. McGuffie senior in various directions , and as in no case were the arrangements of his house since Mrs. McGuffie 's death of an extremely regular character , there was no meal to which his promising son -- Speug -- could return with any confidence ; and therefore Peter did not make a practice of going home at one o'clock , unless there was a special event at the stables , such as the arrival of a new horse , in which case he invited a few friends to an inspection , with light refreshments ; or unless , having racked his brain to the utmost for four hours , he was still in sheer despair of mischief . With one or two other young friends of a like mind , he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour in what might be called extramural studies -- rowing over to the island below the bridge against the tide and coming back gloriously with the current ; assisting the salmon-fishers to draw their nets and gather the silver spoil ; in the happy snow-time raiding the playground of a rival school when the boys were away , and leaving insulting remarks wrought in snow ; or attending the drill of the cavalry on the South Meadow . Like other guerillas , he carried his biltong and mealies with him , and took his meal anywhere and by preference when on the run .