about half
past eight o'clock
My grandfather sat in his arm-chair the greater part of the evening , reading the Rivermouth Bamacle , the local newspaper . There was no gas in those days , and the Captain read by the aid of a small block-tin lamp , which he held in one hand . I observed that he had a habit of dropping off into a doze every three or four minutes , and I forgot my homesickness at intervals in watching him . Two or three times , to my vast amusement , he scorched the edges of the newspaper with the wick of the lamp ; and at about half past eight o'clock I had the satisfactions -- I am sorry to confess it was a satisfaction -- of seeing the Rivermouth Barnacle in flames . My grandfather leisurely extinguished the fire with his hands , and Miss Abigail , who sat near a low table , knitting by the light of an astral lamp , did not even look up . She was quite used to this catastrophe . There was little or no conversation during the evening .