nine o'clock
I daresay we shall see as much as the other two . '' So the other two climbed , alone and almost in silence . Beside them and in front of them , scattered up and along the twilight fell , were dim groups of pilgrims bent on the same errand with themselves . It was not much past nine o'clock , and the evening would have been still light but for the drizzle of rain and the low-hanging clouds . As it was , those bound for the beacon-head had a blind climb up the rocks and the grassy slopes that led to the top . Helena stumbled once or twice , and Geoffrey caught her . Thenceforward he scarcely let her go again .