four o'clock
There are models of boats pinned up against the wall , -- models which to the common eye hardly vary at all , but to a trained perception differ widely . There are oars lying about the shop , oil-skin suits , a compass , charts , in round tin cases , boat hardware , and coils of new rope . The little pier has its periods of activity and life , like the great world outside . At three or four o'clock , in the gray dawn , fishermen appear , singly , or two by two ; there is often then a failure of wind , and they have to get out to sea by heavy rowing or by the drift of the tide . Then there is silence for some hours , and when the world awakes the cove is nearly deserted . At seven o'clock begins the life of the shop . Amateur fishermen appear , -- boarders from New York or visiting sons from Brockton .