about nine o'clock
By this declaration the governor was confirmed in the opinion of his having some intrigue upon the anvil . In the bitterness of his vexation , he took the liberty of signifying his suspicion , and reminding him of the dangerous dilemmas to which he had been reduced by his former precipitation . Peregrine took his caution in good part , and promised to behave with such circumspection as would screen him from any troublesome consequences for the future : but , nevertheless , behaved that same evening in such a manner as plainly showed that his prudence was nothing else than vain speculation . He had made an appointment to spend the night , as usual , with Mrs. Hornbeck ; and about nine o'clock hastened to her lodgings , when he was accosted in the street by his old discarded friend Thomas Pipes , who , without any other preamble , told him , that for all he had turned him adrift , he did not choose to see him run full sail into his enemy 's harbour , without giving him timely notice of the danger . `` I 'll tell you what , '' said he ; `` mayhap you think I want to curry favour , that I may be taken in tow again ; if you do , you have made a mistake in your reckoning . I am old enough to be laid up , and have to keep my planks from the weather . But this here is the affair : I have known you since you were no higher than a marlinspike , and should n't care to see you deprived of your rigging at these years ; whereby I am informed by Hornbeck 's man , whom I this afternoon fell in with by chance , as how his master has got intelligence of your boarding his wife , and has steered privately into this port with a large complement of hands , in order , d'ye see , to secure you while you are under the hatches .