nine o'clock
in the morning
He recalled a suggestion of a small increase in the size of the mainsail , which had occurred to him when he sailed the Sea Foam . His first aspiration was only to build a yacht ; his second was to build one that would beat anything of her inches in the fleet . If he could realize this last ambition , he would have all the business he could do . The yacht fleet did not appear up the bay ; but it was only nine o'clock in the morning , and possibly the meeting of the club would not take place till afternoon . If any one had told him the hour , he had forgotten it , but the former meeting had been in the forenoon . He was too nervous to sit still a great while , and , rising , he walked about , musing upon his grand scheme . The place was an elevated platform of rock , a portion of it covered with soil to the depth of several feet , on which the grass grew .