midnight
He was a good swimmer , so he was , which is what few men on the island can do , and he knew that he 'd be able to fetch out to the rock where them ones played themselves . '' I was quite prepared to believe that Anthony was inspired by a passion far out of the common . I know nothing more terrifying than the chill embrace of the sea at night-time . To strike out through the slimy weeds which lie close along the surface at the ebb point of a spring tide , to clamber on low rocks , half awash for an hour or two at midnight , these are things which I would not willingly do . `` The first time he went for to try it , '' said Peter , `` he felt a bit queer in himself and he thought it would do him no harm if he was to bless himself . So he did , just as he was stepping off the shore into the water . Well , it might as well have been a shot he fired , for the minute he did it they were off and their cloaks along with them ; and Anthony was left there .