three o'clock
A dozen boys were speedily chosen to set the table , and the others , catching up all the empty pails and baskets they could find , scattered over the island in search of strawberries . In about an hour they met again under the tree , and found the refreshments all ready for them , and they fell to work in earnest . So full were they of their sport , that it took them two hours to eat their dinner , as they had said they had come to enjoy themselves , and felt in duty bound to eat all their baskets contained . After dinner , one of the smugglers proposed to go squirrel-hunting ; but many of the coast-guards had passed the preceding night without any sleep , and , to use their own expression , they `` did n't feel like it ; '' so this project was abandoned , and the boys lay on the grass , under the tree , telling stories , until almost three o'clock , and then began to get ready to start for home . A Queer Cousin . As every one knows , it would be almost an impossibility for sixteen sail-boats to go any where in company without trying their speed , especially if they were sailed by boys . When our heroes stepped into their vessels , each skipper made up his mind that his boat must be the first one to touch the opposite shore .