six o'clock
`` As far as I can , '' was the reply . A steamer came almost at once , and Cartoner selected a quiet seat over the rudder . He must have known that the _ Minnie _ was so constructed that she could pass under the bridges , for he began to look for her at once . It was six o'clock , and a spring tide was running out . All the passenger traffic was turned to the westward , and a friendly deck-hand , having leisure , came and gave Cartoner his views upon cricket , in which , as was natural in one whose life was passed on running water , his whole heart seemed to be absorbed . Cartoner was friendly , but did not take advantage of this affability to make inquiries about the _ Minnie _ . He knew , perhaps , that there is no more suspicious man on earth than a river-side worker .