about four o'clock in the afternoon
The fire burned low and the kitchen got cold , but Kit did not come back and when Peter heard his housekeeper 's clogs on the stones outside he got up and crossed the floor , to get his hat . Old Bella was curious and he did not want to talk , but there was something to be done in the barn and when his heart was sore it was a relief to work . PART II -- ON THE CARIBBEAN It was about four o'clock in the afternoon and Kit Askew lounged in a chair on the bridge-deck as the _ Rio Negro _ steamed slowly across the long swell of the Caribbean . The wrinkled undulations sparkled with reflected light in a dazzling pattern of blue and silver , and then faded to green and purple in the shadow of the ship . A wave of snowy foam curled up as the bows went down and the throb of the propeller quickened as the poop swung against the sky . Then the lurching hull steadied and the clang of engines resumed its measured beat .