about seven in the evening
`` What are you thinking of , captain ? We should run aground to a certainty ! '' `` What will you do then ? '' `` I shall try to keep in the offing until the flood , that is to say , till about seven in the evening , and if there is still light enough I will try to enter the gulf ; if not , we must stand off and on during the night , and we will enter to-morrow at sunrise . '' `` As I told you , Pencroft , we will leave it to you , '' answered Harding . `` Ah ! '' said Pencroft , `` if there was only a light-house on the coast , it would be much more convenient for sailors . ''