Nine o'clock
As soon as they had gone , Jack placed his book on the cabin table and drew up to it . Until dark he plodded through the pages , then turned on the electric light . Finding the book more difficult of comprehension than he had expected , he crouched over the volume , devoting his whole attention to the first few pages . Nine o'clock came and went . Half-past nine went by . Had Benson heeded the time he would have concluded that his comrades had found village life unusually alluring to-night . Through the dark , quiet boat yard prowled a man , pausing and listening every few steps , as though bent on trying to keep out of the sight of the night watchman .