a quarter before nine o'clock
Mind , if there 's two orders , follow mine , not his . Set the cook for ` ard with the heads ` ls , and the two others at the main sheet , and see they do n't sit on it . '' With that he called the pilot ; they swarmed aloft in the fore rigging , and presently after there was bawled down the welcome order to ease sheets and fill away . At a quarter before nine o'clock on Christmas morning the anchor was let go . The first cruise of the Currency Lass had thus ended in a stroke of fortune almost beyond hope . She had brought two thousand pounds ' worth of trade , straight as a homing pigeon , to the place where it was most required . And Captain Wicks -LRB- or , rather , Captain Kirkup -RRB- showed himself the man to make the best of his advantage .