about
3 o'clock
But the sunset would soon be over , and he would have to return home , for a long evening without a book . Terrible ! And he began to feel that he must have an occupation -- his book ! To write the story of the island castles would pass the time , and wondering how he might write it , whether from oral tradition or from the books and manuscripts which he might find in national libraries , he went out about 3 o'clock and wandered down the old cart-track , getting his feet very wet , till he came to the pine-wood , into which he went , and stood looking across the lake , wondering if he should go out to Castle Island in a boat -- there was no boat , but he might borrow one somewhere -- and examine what remained of the castle . But he knew every heap of old stones , every brown bush , and the thick ivy that twined round the last corner wall . Castle Hag had an interest Castle Island had not . The cormorants roosted there ; and they must be hungry , for the lake had been too windy for fishing this long while .