midnight
We dowsed sail and pulled towards it leisurably , waiting for the hour when the fishing-boats should put out from Porto Fino : which they did towards sunset , running out by ones and two 's before the breeze which then began to draw off the land , and making a pretty moving picture against the evening glow . When night had fallen we hoisted our lateen again and worked up towards them . These fishermen -LRB- as I reasoned , from our own Cornish practice -RRB- would shoot their nets soon after nightfall and before the moon 's rising -- to haul them , perhaps , two hours later , and await the approach of morning for their second cast . Towards midnight , then , we sailed boldly up to the outermost boat and spoke her through Marc ` antonio , who -LRB- _ fas est ab hoste doceri _ -RRB- had in old campaigns picked up enough of the Genoese patois to mimic it very passably . He announced us as sent by certain Genoese fishmongers -- a new and enterprising firm whose name he invented on the spur of the moment -- to trade for the first catch of fish and carry them early to market , where their freshness would command good prices . The fishermen , at first suspicious , gave way at sight of the Genoese money in his hand , and accepted an offer which not only saved them a journey but -LRB- as we calculated -RRB- put from three to four extra livres in their pockets . Within twenty minutes they had transferred two thousand fish to our boat , and we sailed off into the darkness , ostensibly to trade with the others .