two o'clock in the afternoon
The night had fallen , but a green rent was torn in the leaden sky , and through this the full moon appeared . When he got to Ramsey the tide was up to the old cross , slates were flying like kites , and the harbour sounded like a battlefield with its thunderous roar of rigging . He made for the dressmaker 's , and heard that Kate had not been there for six hours . At the draper 's he learned that at two o'clock in the afternoon she had been seen going up Ballure . The sound rocket was fired as he pushed through the town . A schooner riding to an anchor in the bay was flying her ensign for help . The sea was terrific -- a slaty grey , streaked with white foam like quartz veins ; but the men who had been idling on the quay when the water was calm were now struggling , chafing , and fighting to go out on it , for the blood of the old Vikings was in them .