five o'clock
It was nearly three o'clock when Singleton reached the _ Thetis _ ; but in answer to his enquiries he was informed that no stranger had visited the ship . He therefore spent the entire afternoon in posting Milsom on the position of affairs generally , and discussing with him Jack 's plan for the rescue of the Montijos from the convict steamer ; which plan , by the way , Milsom pronounced to be quite feasible , stating that , like Jack , he was fully prepared to go through with it , piracy or not . And therewith he began to congratulate himself upon his foresight in employing his spare time in the preparation of his wonderful disguise for the yacht , an opportunity to use which he had been awaiting with steadily-growing impatience . It was past five o'clock when the steam pinnace appeared approaching the yacht , with de Albareda in the stern-sheets ; and that officer explained his delay by stating that he had been obliged to go on duty during the afternoon , and had only just escaped therefrom . He plunged at once into the business on hand by reminding Jack that the choice of weapons was his , and asking him whether he had yet decided what he would use . He was at first inclined to be somewhat annoyed when Jack explained with earnestness that he would prefer to fight with fists only , for he was a man who had a profound respect for the duello , which he considered ought to be conducted with all due formality and dignity ; but finally burst into a fit of hearty laughter at the absurdity -- as he regarded it -- of two men attempting to settle a serious quarrel by pommelling each other like a brace of schoolboys . He admitted that , if Jack chose to insist upon fists as weapons , he would be strictly within his rights , but dwelt , as Don Ramon also had done , upon the unusual character of such a demand , and strongly hinted at his own partiality for pistols ; whereupon Jack gracefully conceded the point and agreed that pistols it should be .