eight o'clock
Pompey now gave them all to understand how old they were to be when asked by persons who were likely to purchase , and then went and reported to his master that the old boys were all right . `` Be sure , '' said Jennings , `` that the niggers do n't forget what you have taught them , for our luck this time in the market depends upon their appearance . If any of them have so many gray hairs that you can not pluck them out , take the blacking and brush , and go at them . '' At eight o'clock , on the evening of the third day of the passage , the lights of another steamer were soon in the distance , and apparently coming up very fast . This was the signal for a general commotion on board the Patriot , and everything indicated that a steamboat-race was at hand . Nothing can exceed the excitement attendant upon the racing of steamers on the Mississippi . By the time the boats had reached Memphis they were side by side , and each exerting itself to get in advance of the other .