about an hour
before noon
But four months had not shown those straining eyes the white speck on the horizon ; the sail , so looked and longed for . Hazel often walked the island by himself ; not to explore , for he knew the place well by this time , but he went his rounds to see that all his signals were in working order . He went to Mount Lookout one day with this view . It was about an hour before noon . Long before he got to the mountain he had scanned the horizon carefully , as a matter of course ; but not a speck . So , when he got there , he did not look seaward , but just saw that his flagstaff was all right and was about to turn away and go home , when he happened to glance at the water ; and there , underneath him , he saw -- a ship ; standing toward the island . HE started , and rubbed his eyes , and looked again .