midnight
And I was glad , as your honour may well think , to see the chaloupe full of the captain 's men rowing hard towards the vessel . She had just come out of the river mouth and was doubling round the banks . We carried the man on his ladder to the kitchen and we and the women did all we could , but he remained like a log . So after a time the two men -LRB- who said they had come along the dyke soon after midnight , on foot , as they thought it would be more secret , and had watched all night in the bent -RRB- wanted to eat and drink and rest . They had missed their game , the big man said ; they had been sent to find out what sort of devil 's tricks were being played on in the island unbeknown to Sir Adrian ; -- but it was the devil 's luck altogether , for the smugglers had slipped away and would not be seen in this part of the world again . That is the way the fat man spoke . The other had nothing to say , but swallowed our bacon and our beer as if he did not care .