eight o'clock
` Your lordship may be sure we will not , ' the valet replied . On Monday morning the little steamer Speedwell made her appearance round the promontory by Knollsea Bay , to take in passengers for the transit to Cherbourg . Breezes the freshest that could blow without verging on keenness flew over the quivering deeps and shallows ; and the sunbeams pierced every detail of barrow , path and rabbit-run upon the lofty convexity of down and waste which shut in Knollsea from the world to the west . They left the pier at eight o'clock , taking at first a short easterly course to avoid a sinister ledge of limestones jutting from the water like crocodile 's teeth , which first obtained notoriety in English history through being the spot whereon a formidable Danish fleet went to pieces a thousand years ago . At the moment that the Speedwell turned to enter upon the direct course , a schooner-yacht , whose sheets gleamed like bridal satin , loosed from a remoter part of the bay ; continuing to bear off , she cut across the steamer 's wake , and took a course almost due southerly , which was precisely that of the Speedwell . The wind was very favourable for the yacht , blowing a few points from north in a steady pressure on her quarter , and , having been built with every modern appliance that shipwrights could offer , the schooner found no difficulty in getting abreast , and even ahead , of the steamer , as soon as she had escaped the shelter of the hills . The more or less parallel courses of the vessels continued for some time without causing any remark among the people on board the Speedwell .