nine o'clock
It occurred to him that the employment of expert advice should be his first step , and early the next morning he hired Captain Abernethy . That descendant of a seafaring family , though he felt it incumbent upon him to offer objections that had to be overcome with a great show of respect , was really overjoyed at the commission . He left his own cottage a mile or so away and took up his abode in the forecastle at once . By nine o'clock that morning Cleggett had a force of workmen renovating both cabin and forecastle , putting the cook 's galley into working order , and cleansing the decks of soil and sand . That night Cleggett spent on the vessel , with Captain Abernethy . By Saturday of the same week -- Cleggett had bought the vessel on Wednesday -- he was able to take up his abode in the cabin with his books and arms about him . To his library he had added a treatise on navigation .