eight
o'clock precisely
Presently he called on his comrades to stop , and held with them a long palaver , in which the French horn seemed to be an objector , and the trombone an assenter , while the key-bugle did n't seem to care . At last they all came to an agreement . `` Now , '' said the middy , taking out his purse , `` that 's all fixed ; here is five shillings in advance , and twenty shillings will follow when the performance is over . Do n't forget the time and place : the village of Cove , the rear of Stephen Gaff 's cottage -- everybody knows it -- and eight o'clock precisely . '' That evening Haco Barepoles was seen on the road to Cove , with his coat-skirts , his cravat-ends , and his hair streaming in the breeze . An hour previously , however , a brass band was seen walking towards the same place , and , half an hour after that , a young midshipman was observed posting rapidly in the same direction . It was dark when Gildart entered the village , and all the inhabitants were in their dwellings , so that he reached Gaff 's cottage unperceived .