three
o'clock in the morning
Paul , if you have passed through the experiences Wilkinson has given me a sketch of , we must have your life , man , we must have your life -- for the booksellers . '' Well , I need not detain you by reciting all the civilities and congratulations which he and I exchanged . He and Wilkinson had arrived at Deal at three o'clock that afternoon , and , after a hurried meal , had hired a lugger and started at once for Beachy Head . It was now three o'clock in the morning ; and what I may consider a truly extraordinary circumstance is , that they had sailed as true a course for the schooner as if she had lain plain to the gaze at the very start ; that since the night had drawn down they had met no vessel of any kind or description , until they came up to us ; that in all probability they would have run stem on into us if they had not seen our lights , and that their seeing our lights had caused them to hail us , their `` ship ahoy ! '' being instantly answered by Cromwell . `` Well , '' said I , `` there are stranger things to tell of than this , even . Now , Wilkinson , and you Billy , and Cromwell , get us a good supper and mix a proper bowl .