nine o'clock
For some days past Bob had been engaged , with their landlord and some hired labourers , in bringing in earth and filling up the lower rooms four feet deep , in order to render the cellars bomb proof . Some beds and furniture were taken below , so that Carrie , the servants , and the Spanish family could retire there , in case the enemy 's shells fell thickly round the house . It was noticed as a curious incident that , just as the combined fleet entered the bay an eagle , after circling round it , perched for a few minutes upon the summit of the flag post , on the highest point of the Rock ; an omen of victory which would have been considered decisive , by the Romans , and which did , in fact , help to raise the spirits and confidence of the garrison . On the morning of the 13th the enemy 's battering ships got under way , with a gentle breeze from the northwest and , at a little past nine o'clock anchored , in admirable order , in line of the sea face . The nearest was about nine hundred yards from the King 's Bastion , the most distant being about eleven hundred yards . Not a shot was fired before the enemy anchored , and then the whole of the batteries that commanded them opened fire , to which the battering ships and the artillery in their lines at once replied . Bob was standing on the roof of the house , with his sister .