midnight
observed Tony , listlessly . McGee made no remark , but continued to ply the paddle . Presently the boat was headed in toward the shore . Phil saw that it would have been next to impossible for the Aurora to have passed by here without being discovered ; unless they had picked out an hour between midnight and dawn , when all the settlement might be asleep . As the boat ran up on a shelving beach , Tony was the first one to jump out . In rapid succession Phil , Larry , and finally McGee himself , stood on the shore . Their coming had been already noted .