twenty-one minutes past three
He had never known exactly who was the woman who had reared him , and he made up his mind that she must have been his mother , and thought of her with redoubled tenderness . He called to mind the lady 's clothing in the old leathern trunk . He thought that the Reverend Jaquemin Hérode would probably one day or other be appointed dean of St. Peter 's Port and surrogate of the bishop , and that the rectory of St. Sampson would become vacant . Next , he remembered that the morrow of Christmas would be the twenty-seventh day of the moon , and that consequently high water would be at twenty-one minutes past three , the half-ebb at a quarter past seven , low water at thirty-three minutes past nine , and half flood at thirty-nine minutes past twelve . He recalled , in the most trifling details , the costume of the Highlander who had sold him the bagpipe ; his bonnet with a thistle ornament , his claymore , his close-fitting short jacket , his philabeg ornamented with a pocket , and his snuff-horn , his pin set with a Scottish stone , his two girdles , his sash and belts , his sword , cutlass , dirk , and skene-dhu -- his black-sheathed knife , with its black handle ornamented with two cairngorms -- and the bare knees of the soldier ; his socks , gaiters , and buckled shoes . This highly-equipped figure became a spectre in his imagination , which pursued him with a sense of feverishness as he sunk into oblivion . When he awoke it was full daylight , and his first thought was of Déruchette .