about four o'clock
And when at length the little band of conspirators broke up at midnight and turned in , the plan of campaign had been arranged , down to the last detail . After all , there was not very much to be done in the way of preparation ; a couple of hours ' work next day by Macintyre and his crew at the portable forge down in the stokehold , and everything was ready for the work which was to commence as soon as possible after ten o'clock that night . There was only one difficulty that still remained to be overcome , and that was the evading of the vigilance of the custom-house officers , who still remained on board the yacht . It is true that that vigilance had been very greatly relaxed of late , since it had been borne in upon even their limited intelligence that nothing remotely resembling an attempt to smuggle anything ashore had ever been made ; still , it would be awkward in the extreme if one or more of them should happen to be troubled with insomnia on that particular night , and elect to pass the sleepless hours on deck : but Don Hermoso might be trusted to attend to that matter when he should arrive on board about four o'clock , or a little after , as he did , accompanied by Senora Montijo and Dona Isolda . The difficulty was explained to Don Hermoso during the progress of afternoon tea , which refreshment was partaken of on the top of the deck - house that adjoined the navigating bridge of the vessel ; and after the meal was over , Carlos went ashore in the steam pinnace and brought off a small phial of liquid that looked and tasted like water . Then , the fact having been elicited from the chief steward that the custom-house officers had evinced a very marked preference for whisky over the aguardiente of their native land , a bottle of the former was opened and , half a wineglassful of the spirit having been poured from the bottle , a like quantity of the liquid from the phial was substituted for it , the cork replaced , and the bottle well shaken . It was then sent forward to the _ empleados de la aduana _ for their especial use , with the compliments of Don Hermoso , that they might drink his health and that of his family , and wish them a pleasant voyage , on this their last night on board , since the yacht would , weather permitting , go to sea some time on the morrow .