nine o'clock
Mr. Baker , chief mate of the ship Narcissus , stepped in one stride out of his lighted cabin into the darkness of the quarter-deck . Above his head , on the break of the poop , the night-watchman rang a double stroke . It was nine o'clock . Mr. Baker , speaking up to the man above him , asked : -- `` Are all the hands aboard , Knowles ? '' The man limped down the ladder , then said reflectively : -- `` I think so , sir . All our old chaps are there , and a lot of new men has come ... .