twelve minutes past
nine
The footsteps of the colonists alone resounded on the hardened ground . During the first quarter of an hour the silence was only interrupted by this remark from Pencroft : -- `` We ought to have brought a torch . '' And by this reply from the engineer : -- `` We shall find one at the corral . '' Harding and his companions had left Granite House at twelve minutes past nine . At forty-seven minutes past nine they had traversed three out of the five miles which separated the mouth of the Mercy from the corral . At that moment sheets of lightning spread over the island and illumined the dark trees . The flashes dazzled and almost blinded them .