about three o'clock
The pier ran out from the island to the deep water , so that I had only to run the bow up to it , and make fast to the ring . The steamer would be safe here , and , being concealed between the islands , could only be seen from one point above and one below ; and here we could have our dinner , and hold our important consultation without the danger of interruption . I had another and stronger motive for entering this channel , and without which , perhaps , I might not have had the confidence to run even the slight risk which the navigation of the passage involved . It was so fully ground into my bones that the Champion would be after us about three o'clock , or as soon as she had landed her passengers at Parkville , that I wished to be fully prepared for any emergency . To the north of the `` North Sister , '' and to the south of the `` South Sister , '' the water was shoal for a mile in each direction , while the channel between the islands seemed to have been kept open by the strong south-west and north-east winds , as they forced the waters through . At any rate , there was a channel with five feet of water in it , though I was not entirely certain in regard to the explanation of the fact . The Champion was a larger boat , drawing one foot more water aft than the Adieno , and therefore could not pass through the channel , or come within half a mile of the wood pier .