eleven p.m.
We consequently sat down to our scanty morning meal not only with excellent appetites but also in very fair spirits , considering what we had lately been called upon to endure ; and , the meal over , I next devoted my attention to the wounded , of whom there were by this time several , and did what I could to make them and myself as comfortable as possible . About an hour after sunrise a little air from the eastward sprang up , and by nine a.m. it was blowing quite a free breeze , which , though it certainly refreshed us greatly , and was in pleasing contrast to the suffocating heat of the day before , I was rather sorry to see ; for I knew that , combined with the current , it would seriously retard the advance of our friends up the river . To tell the truth , I was getting to be a trifle anxious about this matter ; I could not at all understand why it was that we had been left to take care of ourselves so long . If the French boat had reached the creek in safety she would doubtless arrive about ten or eleven p.m. , or a few hours only after our establishment of ourselves upon the island . Forty hours or thereabouts had elapsed since then , yet there was no sign of help . Could it be possible that the Frenchmen had _ not _ escaped after all ? In that case we might have to wait another day , or even a couple of days ; for I thought it scarcely probable that Captain Vernon would take alarm on the instant of our becoming overdue .