ten o'clock
in the morning
The day came that Von Koren had fixed on for his departure . A cold , heavy rain had been falling from early morning , a north-east wind was blowing , and the waves were high on the sea . It was said that the steamer would hardly be able to come into the harbour in such weather . By the time-table it should have arrived at ten o'clock in the morning , but Von Koren , who had gone on to the sea-front at midday and again after dinner , could see nothing through the field-glass but grey waves and rain covering the horizon . Towards the end of the day the rain ceased and the wind began to drop perceptibly . Von Koren had already made up his mind that he would not be able to get off that day , and had settled down to play chess with Samoylenko ; but after dark the orderly announced that there were lights on the sea and that a rocket had been seen . Von Koren made haste .