nearly three o'clock in the morning
He crept on , while the gale paused to take breath , and a moment later cowered in the porch of a little yellow house . He kicked the door with his heel and then waited , with his ear to the great keyhole . Surely the cure must have been a good man to sleep in such a night . The street had naturally been deserted , for it was nearly three o'clock in the morning , and dawn could not be far off . `` A one-armed man and a priest ! '' said the man to himself , with an expressive jerk of the head . And , indeed , all the men of Yport had sailed for the Northern fisheries , leaving the village to the women and children , and the maimed .