seven o'clock
But I 've no vessel to spare you , so you 'll have to take the felucca , and do the best you can with her . Strictly speaking , you know , I ought to put you under arrest , and not employ you again until after you have been tried for the loss of the _ Wasp _ ; but the circumstances are such that we can not afford to waste time in mere formalities just now ; and I will take the responsibility of sending you to sea again at once . You will be a bit crowded aboard the little hooker , I 'm afraid , but that ca n't be helped ; and if all goes well it ought not to be for long . Now , go and find Carline , talk over the matter with him , and then come up to the Pen to dinner to-night -- seven o'clock , sharp -- and report to me what you have arranged . '' I took the hint , and went , very well pleased , on the whole , with the result of my interview . For I must confess that I had gone to that interview not altogether without trepidation ; it was quite possible -- I had told myself -- that the Admiral might find fault with the manner in which I had engaged the pirate schooner ; he might have picked holes in my tactics , or something of that sort ; he might even have considered that the _ Wasp _ might have been saved , after the fight , had we acted otherwise than we did ; but , to my great relief , there was not a word of blame from him ; on the contrary , he had murmured a word or two of approval here and there while I had been telling my tale , and was now about to prove his undiminished confidence in me by entrusting me with the command of another expedition against the same formidable foe . I could not possibly have hoped for a more favourable reception .