eight o’clock
But I had not reckoned upon the colossal task the reefing of three sails meant for one man . While running away from the wind I had not appreciated its force , but when we ceased to run I learned to my sorrow , and well-nigh to my despair , how fiercely it was really blowing . The wind balked my every effort , ripping the canvas out of my hands and in an instant undoing what I had gained by ten minutes of severest struggle . At eight o'clock I had succeeded only in putting the second reef into the foresail . At eleven o'clock I was no farther along . Blood dripped from every finger-end , while the nails were broken to the quick . From pain and sheer exhaustion I wept in the darkness , secretly , so that Maud should not know .