three in the morning
We are safe ! safe ! '' I repeated ; but still it was too horrible to think of wearing out the long , slow hours in such misery . It was six now ; the tide would not turn until three in the morning ; it had been rising for three hours now ; it would not be possible to leave the cave and make our way by the cliff for an hour after that . Ten hours -- ten long , crawling hours to pass in this cramped position ! I thought of dear mother 's horror if she knew of our peril , and then I thought of Allan , and a lump came in my throat . Mr. Lucas would be scouring the coast in search of us .