three o'clock in the afternoon
`` Right you are , '' was the answer , and the surgeon came down the ladder as nimbly as Eric could have done himself . On arriving at the wrecked steamer , it was found that the injuries were knife-wounds , one of them deep and necessitating an immediate operation . As there was a good deal of likelihood that the steamer might go to pieces on the reef if a storm blew up , it was decided to take the two injured men to the _ Miami _ , where the doctor could give them better attention . Owing to the difficulty of the steamer 's position on the reef , with the surf breaking over her to the windward and the rocks to lee , this trans-shipment of the injured men was not accomplished without difficulty , but by three o'clock in the afternoon , the men were safely on board the cutter . Meantime the lieutenant had been trying to place the responsibility for the crime , but this was impossible . All that the captain of the steamer could say was that , during a fight with the wreckers the preceding night , these two men had been knifed . In response to questions , Captain Jorgsen expressed the hope that some of the wreckers had got hurt themselves , but he regretted that his crew had been defenseless , with nothing but belaying pins and such like weapons for their protection .