ten
in the evening
Turning , she walked proudly forward towards her cabin , a trim , straight , haughty figure ; and he did not know that her knees were shaking and weak . For four days the Santa Maria felt blindly through the white fields , drifting north with the spring tide that sets through Behring Strait , till , on the morning of the fifth , open water showed to the east . Creeping through , she broke out into the last stage of the long race , amid the cheers of her weary passengers ; and the dull jar of her engines made welcome music to the girl in the deck state-room . Soon they picked up a mountainous coast which rose steadily into majestic , barren ranges , still white with the melting snows ; and at ten in the evening under a golden sunset , amid screaming whistles , they anchored in the roadstead of Nome . Before the rumble of her chains had ceased or the echo from the fleet 's salute had died from the shoreward hills , the ship was surrounded by a swarm of tiny craft clamoring about her iron sides , while an officer in cap and gilt climbed the bridge and greeted Captain Stephens . Tugs with trailing lighters circled discreetly about , awaiting the completion of certain formalities . These over , the uniformed gentleman dropped back into his skiff and rowed away .