five minutes before noon
He made sure of this by the ship 's chronometer , which he had thoughtfully brought with him . -LSB- Illustration : `` The Lone Tower on the Island of the Nine Whirlpools . '' _ See page 88 . _ -RSB- So on the eighth day , at five minutes before noon , Nigel got ready . And when the whirlpools suddenly stopped whirling and the tide sank , like water in a basin that has a hole in it , he stuck to his oars and put his back into his stroke , and presently beached the boat on the yellow sand . Then he dragged it into a cave , and sat down to wait . By five minutes and one second past noon , the whirlpools were black and busy again , and Nigel peeped out of his cave .