Fifteen minutes after three
Seth was snoring peacefully . Brown stealthily withdrew . At three , precisely , he emerged from the boathouse on the wharf , clad in his bathing suit . Fifteen minutes after three , Seth Atkins , in his stocking feet and with suspicion in his eye , crept along the path to the edge of the bluff . Crouching behind a convenient sand dune he raised his head and peered over it . Below him was the cove , its pleasant waters a smooth , deep blue , streaked and bordered with pale green . But the water itself did not interest Seth .