noon
After that she went more slowly . At early dawn -- and it was a real dawn this time , with sunlight on the water and a golden glow in the eastern sky -- the Isles of Shoals lay six miles to the southwest and the blue shore line was beckoning them . At a little before eleven that forenoon the _ Catspaw _ passed Portsmouth Light and half an hour later , having been given over to the care of a tug , was lying snugly against a wharf . It was a tired but triumphant dozen that stretched their legs ashore at noon and set out in search of dinner . Already they had answered a score of questions and told their story half a dozen times , and even after they were seated at table in the best restaurant that the city afforded -- and it was a very good restaurant , too -- an enterprising newspaper reporter found them out and Steve , as spokesman , recounted their adventures once more between mouthfuls . And when at last they could eat no more and the reporter had gone off to write his story , Steve , Joe and Wink set forth to an address they had secured on the wharf and the others adjourned to the porch of a nearby hotel to await their return . `` Tell him , '' instructed Perry as they parted , `` that we wo n't accept a cent less than a thousand dollars !