one in the morning
The example was a recent one , and it had caused the utmost consternation in the islands . Governors had before now been accused of being in league with pirates , and of receiving commissions upon their plunder , so that any want of vigilance was open to a sinister construction . `` Well , Major Harvey , '' said he , `` I am vastly sorry to do anything which may offend my friend Copley Banks , for many a time have my knees been under his mahogany , but in face of what you say there is no choice for me but to order you to board the vessel and to satisfy yourself as to her character and destination . '' So at one in the morning Major Harvey , with a launchful of his soldiers , paid a surprise visit to the _ Ruffling Harry _ , with the result that they picked up nothing more solid than a hempen cable floating at the moorings . It had been slipped by the brig , whose owner had scented danger . She had already passed the Palisades , and was beating out against the north-east trades on a course for the Windward Passage . When upon the next morning the brig had left Morant Point a mere haze upon the Southern horizon , the men were called aft , and Copley Banks revealed his plans to them .