eleven o’clock
By this time we were in the heart of the village , and surrounded with a whole lot , forty at the least , of Blankanese boatmen . We were not long in selecting one of the fleetest-looking of those very fleet boats , when we all trundled on board ; and I now witnessed what struck me as being an awful sign of the times . The very coachman of the stuhl wagen , after conversing a moment with his master , returned to his team , tied the legs of the poor creatures as they stood , and then with a sharp knife cut their jugular veins through and through on the right side , having previously reined them up sharp to the left , so that , before starting , we could see three of the team , which consisted of four superb bays , level with the soil and dead ; the near wheeler only holding out on his fore-legs . We shoved off at eleven o'clock in the forenoon ; and after having twice been driven into creeks on the Holstein shore by bad weather , we arrived about two next morning safely on board the Torch , which immediately got under weigh for England . After my story had been told to the Captain , I left my preserver , his father , and his sisters in his hands , and I need scarcely say that they had as hearty a welcome as the worthy old soul could give them , and dived into the midshipmen 's berth for a morsel of comfort , where , in a twinkling , I was far into the secrets of a pork pie . CHAPTER II . -- The Cruise of the Torch .