eight o'clock
One or two offered chaffingly to come out and search for me if I should n't return before midnight ; and a volley of facetious warnings followed me out upon the calm sea . The beach was deserted , however , when I returned . I had hooked three fine conger ; and having hauled up the boat and cleaned her , I made my way back to the vicarage , well pleased , getting to bed as the clock struck two in the morning . This was Thursday ; and in the evening , between seven and eight o'clock , I launched the boat again under the eyes of the population and started fishing on the inner grounds , well in sight of the Porth . Dusk fell , and with it the young moon dropped behind the western headland . Far out beyond Menawhidden the riding-lights of a few drifters sparkled in the darkness : but I had little to fear from them . The moon had no sooner disappeared than I shifted my ground , and pulling slowly down in the shore 's shadow -LRB- I had greased the leathers of my oars for silence -RRB- , ran the boat in by the point under Gunner 's Meadow , beached her cunningly between two rocks , and pulled a tarpaulin over to hide her white-painted interior .