about nine o'clock in
the evening
`` The phoenix ? '' I cried . `` You have seen the phoenix ? '' `` In just this latitude , '' he answered , `` but it was about nine o'clock in the evening and I remember that the new moon was setting behind the mountains when I happened to come on deck . '' `` And what was the phoenix like ? '' I asked . `` Really , '' he replied , `` the bird was almost as Herodotus described her , of the make and size of the eagle , with a plumage partly red and partly golden .