three o'clock
in the afternoon
But our visit was evidently quite unexpected , for we only found a small body of Russian troops -- about a hundred or so , with a squadron of Cossacks -- in possession ; and a few shells from our torpedo-boats sent them to the right-about in double-quick time . We destroyed the earthworks , and the jetty , as a precautionary measure , and , having reconnoitred the country for several miles in every direction without discovering anything very alarming , returned to the ship the same night , without casualties of any kind . It was now about six o'clock in the evening . During the greater part of the day the weather had been beautifully fine ; but toward three o'clock in the afternoon a heavy bank of dark , slate-coloured cloud had gathered in the eastern quarter of the sky , so quickly rising and spreading that , by five o'clock , the entire firmament had become obscured , the wind dropped to a dead calm , the light dwindled to a murky , unnatural kind of twilight , there were a few flickerings of sheet lightning , low down on the horizon , occasionally accompanied by a low muttering of distant thunder , and the mercury was dropping with rather ominous rapidity . I confess that , for my own part , I felt a bit puzzled ; I did not quite know what to make of the weather indications . It might be that nothing worse than a violent thunderstorm was brewing ; but against this theory there was to be set the sudden and ominous decline of the barometric pressure . We had fulfilled our task , and were preparing to get under way , when Takebe , who was in command of the torpedo flotilla , came aboard to consult with our skipper as to the advisability of going to sea , in the face of such threatening conditions .