four o'clock
All day we had had a following breeze , and it had been necessary to lengthen the towing-rope , dropping the jolly-boat well behind us . The men , saying little or nothing , dozed under their canvas ; the helmsman drooped at the wheel . Under our feet the boards sent up simmering heat waves , and the brasses were too hot to touch . At four o'clock Elsa Lee came on deck , and spoke to me for the first time in several days . She started when she saw me , and no wonder . In the frenzied caution of the day after the crimes , I had flung every razor overboard , and the result was as villainous a set of men as I have ever seen . `` Have you been ill again ? ''