three in the morning
`` If it 's a joke , '' said Mrs. Doane firmly , `` it 's not on _ them _ . '' He was n't sure just _ who _ the joke was on . He lay thinking about it . At three in the morning , when you ca n't sleep and the tide 's in , you might get it mixed -- who the joke was on . But , no , the joke _ was _ on them , that they 'd had their long slow deep _ In _ -- _ Out _ -- their whaling and their fleets , and that what came after was _ him _ -- a tinkerer with other men 's boats , a ship 's carpenter who 'd even work on _ houses _ . `` Get Joe Doane to do it for you . '' And glad enough was Joe Doane to do it .