about noon
The equinoctial gales had been protracted and severe . For days the sea off Fair Head , and through the strait that separates the mainland from Rathlin Island , had run mountains high ; and now , though the surface was smooth and glistening in the bright spring sun , the long , heavy swell , as it broke in thundering rollers on the shore , bore witness to the fierceness of the recent conflict . The night had been wild and dark , but it was succeeded by one of those balmy days that are sent as harbingers of coming summer . Elsie and Jim had been busy ever since the return of the tide , about noon , dragging to shore the masses of sea-wrack that the recent storms had loosened and sent adrift . The afternoon was now far advanced , and the children were growing weary of their work . Several heaps of brown , wet , shining weed stood at intervals along the sands , as monuments of their zeal . They began to look wistfully towards the hill for `` father , '' who had promised to meet them at the conclusion of the day 's work ; but again and again they had looked in vain .