nine o'clock
Waiting till the speakers must have gone well along the cliff , he rose to his feet , and returned to Sidmouth . He thought , at first , of telling some of the fishermen what he had heard , but as , in the event of an affray , it might come out how the smugglers had been warned of the intention of the revenue officers , he thought there would be less risk in giving them warning himself . He knew every path down the cliff for miles , and trusted that he should be able to make his way down , and give the boats notice of their danger , before the revenue men reached the shore . At nine o'clock he dressed himself , in the rough sailor 's suit he wore when he went out with the fishermen , and started along the cliff . For some distance he kept well inland , as the officer might have placed a man on the lookout , to stop anyone going towards the scene of action . The spot he thought the most likely was a mile and a half along the shore . There was a good landing place , and an easy path up the cliff , and he knew that cargoes had been more than once run here .