eight o'clock
I rejoiced to see the clouds depart and the stars begin to shine , for the genius of loneliness seemed to govern the place . We could see nothing but the sea , which in the night looked as black as ink as it surged among the rocks . Even `` Great Smith , '' a huge black rock which lay about half a mile from us , was almost hidden from view , and no sound of anything living reached us save the weird , unnatural cry of the sea birds which now and then fluttered among the rocks on the coast . When eight o'clock came Eli crawled out from our hiding-place and crept to the headland . Here he stayed for some minutes . `` We be saafe , I reckon , '' he grunted when he came back ; `` ther 's nobody here , nobody ` toal . We 'll go back to the rock again .