About four o'clock
But Simon knew that Isabel , though she had recovered from her fatigue and was already forgetting the dangers which had threatened them , nevertheless could not shake off the horror of what she had seen . He himself was still terribly depressed , haunted by the vision so frightful that it seemed the extravagant image of a nightmare rather than the memory of an actual thing . Was it true that they had one and all lost their lives : the three clergymen with their austere faces , the four happy , cheerful boys , their father and mother , the little girl who had cried , the child that had smiled at Isabel , the captain and every single individual of all those who had covered the _ Queen Mary 's _ decks ? About four o'clock , the clouds , unrolling in blacker and denser masses , had conquered the heavens . Already the watchers felt the first breath of the great squalls whose precipitous onset was at hand , whose battalions , let loose across the Atlantic , were about to rush into the narrow straits of the Channel and mingle their devastating efforts with the mysterious forces rising from the depths of the sea . The horizon was blotted out as the clouds released their contents . But the yacht was nearing Dieppe .