eight o'clock
`` How far is it to Colonsay ? '' Archie asked . `` Between fifty and sixty miles from Rathlin , '' the fisherman said . `` It was eight o'clock when we started , ten when the squall struck us , it will be dark by four , and fast as we are running we shall scarcely be in time to catch the last gleam of day . Come , boys , '' he said to his sons , `` give her a little more canvas still , for it is life and death to reach Colonsay before nightfall , for if we miss it we shall be dashed on to the Mull long before morning . '' A little more sail was accordingly shown , and the boat tore through the water at what seemed to Archie to be tremendous speed ; but she was shipping but little water now , for though the great waves as they neared her stern seemed over and over again to Archie as if they would break upon her and send her instantly to the bottom , the stout boat always lifted lightly upon them until he at length felt free from apprehension on that score . Presently the fisherman pointed out a dark mass over their other bow .