half past
seven
That 'll give mother full time to see ` bout your kit . '' Joan wept , Thomasin Tregenza whined , and Tom danced a break-down and rolled away to see some fisher-boy friends in the harbor before school began . Then Michael , calling his daughter to him , walked with her among his plum-trees , talked of God with some quotations , and looked at his pigs . Presently he busied himself and made ready for sea in a little outhouse where paint and ship 's chandlery were stored ; and finally , the hour then being half past seven , he returned to his labors . Joan walked with him to the harbor and listened while he talked of the goodness of God to the Luke Gospelers at sea ; how the mackerel had been delivered to them in thousands , and how the Bible Christians and Primitive Methodists had fared by no means so happily . The tide was high , and Gray Michael 's skiff waited for him at the pierhead beside the lighthouse . He soon climbed down into it , and the little boat , rowed by two strong pairs of hands , danced away to the fleet .