about nine
o'clock
His wife had promised to come down to Greenwich and see him off . When we anchored , some of the men went on shore -- among others the tall fellow . Sam , whose head was swelled up like a pumpkin , told one of his shipmates to say to his wife that he could not come on shore , and that she must come off to him . Well , it was about nine o'clock , dark , and all the stars were twinkling , when Sam says to me , ` Tom , let 's go on shore ; my black eyes ca n't be seen in the dark . ' As we hauled up the boat , the second mate told Sam to take his harpoon-iron on shore for him , to have the hole for the becket punched larger . Away we went , and the first place , of course , that Sam went to , was the house where he knew that his wife put up at , as before . He went upstairs to her room , and I followed him .