four o'clock
`` Simply that our friend Barker is shut up in the pilot-house , from which he can not now escape , and Lady Olivia has just cut off the flow of vapour at the generator ; in consequence of which the engines have stopped , for one thing , and , for another , Barker may now play as much as he pleases with the levers and valves in the pilot-house without doing any mischief , '' answered von Schalckenberg . The two boats were by this time off the southern extremity of the reef , with the last oyster of their cargoes gone overboard ; they were therefore running light and buoyant over the long swell and sea with which they had to contend , and two minutes later , Mildmay gave the word for them to shift their helms and haul up to their new course of east-north-east . As he did so , he pulled out his watch and noted the time . `` Exactly eight bells -- four o'clock , '' he remarked . `` We must drive these little hookers through it for all they are worth , or we shall have the darkness upon us before we sight the ship , '' and he flung a somewhat anxious glance aloft at the heavy and rather threatening aspect of the sky . For within the last half-hour the sky had thickened somewhat , and ragged patches of scud were sweeping swiftly along overhead , with a dark and lowering bank of clouds behind them to windward , while the breeze had freshened very perceptibly . The sea was increasing , and the boats were already drenching their occupants with the heavy showers of spray that they flung aft , as they met and drove headlong into and through the head-sea .