about three
o'clock in the afternoon
The wind whistled with piteous noise among the ropes , and frequent showers of hail and sleet added to our discomfort . On the third day after leaving the Orkneys we sighted Fair Isle , looming faintly through a mist of snow , far to starboard . With difficulty we tacked to windward , for the northeast wind had driven us considerably out of our course . Darkness came on at about three o'clock in the afternoon in these latitudes , and we wanted to make the harbour in daylight . But though the wind fell , the snow and mist came on so thickly that we quite lost sight of the island , and in our difficulty a terrible thing happened . We were all hands on deck , and sailing close-hauled with a good stretch of canvas set . I was at the helm , and the skipper standing near me .