about eight o'clock
In Which The `` Falcon '' Sets Sail . It was on a gray , wintry Saturday morning that we set sail on my first Orcadian voyage . I had , you may be sure , been up at an early hour , helping to load the little vessel with its miscellaneous cargo , to be carried to the many indolent island ports at which our skipper proposed calling . We were ready by about eight o'clock , when I was sent ashore along with Jerry to get two or three letters from the postmaster that had been waiting two weeks for the Falcon , to be taken to some of the outlying islands ; for the schooner , in addition to her regular work , also carried the Queen 's mails . Then , aboard again , we weighed anchor , the harbour was cleared , and we dropped below the Lookout Hill into the Sound . It was a bitter cold morning , but my excitement on being outward bound on my first trip was enough to keep me warm , and I paced the deck proudly as we passed slowly into the broken water . Over the brown slopes of Graemsay the late-rising sun struggled sleepily to penetrate a dreamy haze ; but soon his warmth had strength to melt the white hoar frost from our rigging , and with a brisk breeze and an outflowing tide we slipped through the Sound , dipping and rising as we met the swelling waves of the outer sea .