nine
o'clock
`` And I , '' added the commodore , `` would like Tabu-Tabu 's shin bone for a clarionet . Pendin ' McGuffey 's reflections on the hamperin ' of crime in Kandavu , however , we 'll turn our attention to the prime object of the expedition . We 've had our little fun and it 's high time we got down to business . It will be low tide at nine o'clock , so I suggest , Scraggs , that you order the mate and two seamen out in the big whaleboat , together with the divin ' apparatus , and we 'll go after pearl oysters and black coral . As for you , Mac , suppose you take the other boat and Tabu-Tabu and the king , and help the mate . Take a rifle along with you , and make them captives dive for pearl oysters until they 're black in the face -- '' `` Huh ! '' muttered the single-minded McGuffey .