about six
o'clock
Arthur asked , looking round . `` As far as I can see , '' Jack replied , `` we are in the middle of a grove of trees that have been blown down by the gale , and the leaves and branches have broken our fall , otherwise we must have been smashed up . We must have been lying here for the last ten hours . It was just about six o'clock when we struck , for I looked at the clock in the cabin the last time we were down there ; and as the sun will be up before long , it must be getting on for five now . Now , let us try to get out of this . '' With the greatest difficulty , for they were still weak and terribly shaken , the boys made their way through the tangle of trees and branches , into which they had so providentially fallen . Both uttered an exclamation of surprise as they reached the edge of the wood : the sea was nearly half a mile away !