three in the afternoon
She came laden with pies and doughnuts , pins and needles , tape and buttons and whisk brooms and shoe blacking , handkerchiefs , ties , scissors , soap , writing paper , envelopes , ink , pens , cakes , bread , jelly , pocket knives , and a schedule of prices that would have brought a blush of envy to the face of a Swiss inn-keeper . As the boys had not yet grown entirely accustomed to what is called `` Government straight , '' i.e. , salt meat and hard-tack , the bumboat did a thriving business . Young Potter 's bill was tremendous , and Mrs. Bumboat bade him a regretful farewell when she visited us for the last time . At three in the afternoon of the tenth we hoisted anchor on our way to sea . Our good friends had not deserted us , and a number of them , aboard several tugs , accompanied us as far as the Narrows . The `` God-speed '' given us as we steamed away would have been a fine object lesson to our future antagonists . Up to the present we had been concerned simply with the preparations for war , but it was destined that before another twenty-four hours had passed we would have a taste of the actual realities .