ten o'clock
There was still a fresh breeze , and the little boat continued to fly before it at the rate of six or eight knots . `` This wind is a lucky chance , '' Ezra remarked , rather to himself than to his companion . `` It is the working of Providence , '' answered John Girdlestone , with an earnestness which showed that his mind still retained its habitual peculiarity . By ten o'clock they were abreast of the long stone terraces of Hastings ; at half-past eleven they saw the masts of the fishing-smacks of Winchelsea . By one they were rounding the sharp bold promontory of Dungeness . They kept further to sea after that , so that the long white wall and the spires of Folkestone and of Dover lay far on the horizon . On the other side a dim haze upon the blue water marked the position of the French coast .