9 A.M.
Nothing venture , nothing win . If one may take a risk , so may another . It does not do to stand idle in the background whilst one 's neighbour by superior daring secures the prize we also sorely need . So by 9 A.M. the last boat of the five and forty had got to sea . Before midday all had made an offing of eight or ten miles , and had started to shoot their lines . Folk who had watched them creep out of the harbour now gave no further heed , save perhaps that wives may chance to have cast anxious looks seaward now and again . But none dreamt of evil .