three o’clock
Later on he woke with a start and sat up in bed , listening intently , listening for he knew not what . Except for the backward scream of the pebbles , dragged down every few seconds by the receding waves , an unbroken silence seemed to prevail . He struck a match and looked at his watch . It was exactly three o'clock . He got out of bed . He was a man in perfect health , ignorant of the meaning of nerves , a man of proved courage . Yet he was conscious that his pulses were beating with absurd rapidity .