three o'clock
`` I ca n't tell you that , my man , for we never saw him , '' replied the skipper . `` He has a clerk , who has also a clerk , and this last one is the only one we saw . Why , the Governor of Jamaica has not so many functionaries . '' Until three o'clock Captain Gordon went about the town with me -- to the cathedral , where he examined the old Norman arches , the dim old epitaphs , and other relics of antiquity contained within these ancient temple walls . There were many other sights of curious interest to the captain about Kirkwall ; for here were the decayed palaces of earls , the halls of old sea kings , and thick-walled mansions of the lordly times -- many of them degraded into hostelries and shops , but all of them showing something of the glories of old Orcadia . Thus we passed the time until three o'clock . In the evening , when I joined the Stromness party , I found Captain Abernethy exclaiming in indignant terms against the result of the trial .