nine o'clock
`` That 's all right , '' I added . `` Now how is the tide ? '' We could cross the bar only when the water was above half-tide ; and this was an important question . We found from our nautical almanac that it would be half-tide at nine o'clock in the forenoon ; and it was not yet seven in the morning by the corrected time . We were as near the coast as I cared to go . We could just make out the square tower of the light-house in the fog , and I was not willing to trust myself in unknown waters near the shore without a pilot . I directed Washburn to stop the engine , and keep a sharp lookout for the drift of the steamer .