five in the afternoon
The number was important if Arnold had been able to lay hold of the craft , but it gave Hardinge little or no difficulty to dispose of . Some thirty or forty of them that were leaky , or otherwise disabled , he quietly broke up , sending the fragments afloat down the river . The remainder he despatched over to the other side , at intervals and from different points , with the aid of a dozen men whom he had joined to his party . Operating thus from ten in the forenoon till five in the afternoon , he succeeded in clearing the south shore of all its boats , without exciting undue attention in the city . He himself came over with the last canoe , about twenty minutes after the sun had gone down and just as the twilight was creeping over the waters . As he neared the landing , he distinguished a female figure walking very slowly along the bank . He could not be mistaken .