one o'clock
After a great deal of thinking , reasoning , and studying , I came to the conclusion that the Splash , and perhaps two or three of the four row-boats , -- for the conspirators had added one to our original number , -- were not farther off than Cannondale . The wind was still fresh from the north-west , and the traitors would hardly care to pull even a single boat eight miles . The steamer , on her way to Parkville , would touch at Cannondale about one o'clock , and I surmised that the deserters would return in her . I made up my mind , in view of these facts and suppositions , that it would be advisable for some of our party to visit Cannondale before one o'clock . Pine Island had sometimes been used as a picnic ground , and the people had been conveyed thither in a steamer . Near the south station , in the deepest water , there was a rude pier of logs built out , for the convenience of landing the parties . This loose structure suggested to me the means of reaching the main shore ; and , without waiting for breakfast , I `` piped '' away my boatmen , and proceeded to build a raft .