ten o'clock
After dinner the girls proceeded to adorn themselves with the old sets of jewelry found in the safe . Madge wore the pearls because , she insisted , they were her special jewels , and she had gone down to the bottom of the bay to find them . Phil was more fascinated with some old-fashioned garnets , Lillian with a big , golden topaz pin , and Eleanor with some turquoises that had turned a curious greenish color from old age . It was well after ten o'clock when the captain announced that he must set out for home . Tom Curtis had been spending the evening on the houseboat with the girls , but he had gone home an hour before to join his mother and her guest , Philip Holt . Before going away the captain concluded that it would be best for him to leave the iron safe of coins and precious stones on the houseboat for the night . It was too late for him to carry it back to `` The Anchorage '' alone .