about nine o'clock
It is true that once outside I should have to wait till a passing ship hove in sight . My evasion would speedily be known at the Beehive , and I should soon be recaptured , unless -- a happy thought strikes me -- unless I could get at the _ Ebba 's _ boat that was drawn up high and dry on the little sandy beach in the creek . In this I might be able to make my way to St. George or Hamilton . This evening -- it was about nine o'clock -- I stretched myself on a bed of sand at the foot of one of the columns , about one hundred yards to the east of the lagoon . Shortly afterwards I heard footsteps , then voices . Hiding myself as best I could behind the rocky base of the pillar , I listened with all my ears . I recognized the voices as those of Ker Karraje and Engineer Serko .