four in the afternoon
And yet , strange to say , out of her decrepitude loyalty was born . I found it growing on me day by day , a jealous regard for her , the pity that becomes a sort of cantankerous affection . `` But to go on with that day , we crossed the bar . It was high water at four in the afternoon and I had to go down again to stand by the telegraph . With my head against the reversing engine wheel I could feel the slow vibration of the anchor coming up , and hear the sough of the exhaust coming back from the windlass . The Second and old Croasan stood near by , their faces blank with waiting and fatigue , like the faces of dead men . Old Croasan 's eyelid would flicker now and then and the tip of his tongue would move stealthily round the inside of his lips .