a half to eight
I do n't mean de Kinzers . Dey 's all got body nuff . '' And yet that inlet had a name and reputation of its own for crabs . There was a wide reach of shallow water , inside the southerly point at the mouth , where , over several hundred acres of muddy flats , the depth varied from three and a half to eight feet , with the ebb and flow of the tides . That was a sort of perpetual crab-pasture ; and there it was that Dick Lee determined to expend his energies that Saturday . Very likely there would be other crabbers on the flats ; but Dick was not the boy to object to that , provided none of them should notice the change in his raiment . At an early hour , therefore , Dab and Ford were preceded by their young colored friend , they themselves waiting for later breakfasts than Mrs. Lee was in the habit of preparing .