half past eight
` Then , ' says he , ` see all ready , Williams , to get away to-morrow at that hour . We 're off to -- , ' and he names a Mediterranean port . `` Right , sir , ' says I , though wondering a bit to myself , for the season was pretty well advanced , and I could n't have guessed , from what I knew and had heard of him , that he would have pushed so far south . `` Well , at half past eight that evening the deck was hailed by a boat alongside , and up he comes handing a lady on board , thickly veiled , and they both went below as if they were in a hurry . Some parcels and a bit of a bandbox or so were chucked up to us by the watermen , who then shoved off . There was a nice little off-shore breeze a-blowing , and soon after nine we were clear of the harbor and sailing quietly along , the sea smooth and the moon rising red out of a smother of mist . Mr. Robinson came on deck and looked aloft to see what sail was made ; I was at the tiller , and stepping up to me , he says -- '' ` What d'yer think of the weather , Williams ? ' ''