two o'clock
He whispered his belief , and it soon won credence , since the warship continued her scrutiny of the coast-line . At last , after a wearying delay , she vanished . Five minutes later , Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the roadstead . It was then half-past two o'clock , and the sun would rise soon after five . Now or never the launch must make her effort . Ready hands tore away her disguise , she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every man on board , the engines throbbed , and she was afloat . At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur on the western horizon .