about
seven o'clock
And in any case , should it come on to blow , as Commander Takebe seemed to fear , he had no apprehensions concerning the _ Kinshiu _ ; she was a good sturdy little ship , and would weather out the worst that was at all likely to happen . The two discussed the matter together for quite half an hour , occasionally referring to me for my opinion ; but both of them were considerably older than I , and had had a much more varied experience than myself of the somewhat peculiar weather conditions of the Sea of Japan ; I therefore said as little as possible , and did not attempt to offer a word of advice to either of them . Finally , the matter ended by each of them having his own way -- that is to say , Yagi decided to leave for Gensan forthwith , unescorted , taking such trifling risk as there might be -- which , they both agreed , amounted practically to none at all -- while Takebe determined to study the safety of his command by remaining where he was and awaiting developments . Accordingly , as soon as the Commander had gone , the order was given to get the anchor ; and about seven o'clock we steamed out to sea . By the time that we were fairly out at sea , it was pitch dark , not a star to be seen , and to add still further to the obscurity , a light mist gathered , as it so often does in the Japan Sea , so that by eight o'clock it was only with the utmost difficulty that we were able to discern a small junk which we had in tow , and which had been employed by us to facilitate the landing of the troops . The weather still continued overcast , and the play of sheet lightning gradually grew more vivid and frequent ; but there was no wind , and not much sea ; and as time went on I began to think , with Yagi , that Takebe 's apprehensions had been groundless , and that we were in for nothing worse than , may be , a thunderstorm , after all . I spent a couple of hours in the saloon that night , watching the infantry officers , of whom there were six , playing some wonderful game of cards , of which I could make nothing , and then strolled up on the bridge to see what the weather was like , and to have a yarn with Yagi , before turning in for the night .