a quarter to eight
When all was done the noise ceased , and no one coming to me I went to bed as usual . On the next morning I got up at daybreak , and looked eagerly from my spying place ; but I could discern only a blank cliff of rock , the ship being now moored against the very side of it . The negro came to me at the usual hour , but he brought a note with my breakfast ; and I read an invitation to dine with Captain Black at eight o'clock on that evening . You may be sure that I welcomed even such a prospect of change , for the monotony of the cabin prison had become nigh unbearable ; and when at a quarter to eight that evening the old man threw open the door and said , `` The Master waits ! '' I went with him almost joyfully , even though the next step might have been to my open grave . He led the way up the companion ladder , which was , in fact , a broad staircase , elaborately lit with the electric light ; and so brought me to the deck , where there was darkness save in one spot above the fore-turret . There a lantern threw a great volume of white light which spread out upon the sea , and showed me at once that we were in a cove of some breadth , surrounded by prodigiously high cliffs ; and the light being focussed right across the bay , disclosed a cleft in these rocks leading apparently to a farther cove beyond .