six o'clock on Christmas eve
Then , when we were fairly off , there rose a roar of shouts that rent the air ; for the boats had all waited , lying a few rods off , to see what would become of us . Queen Esther , I can tell you , if I had been a woman , I should have sat down and cried ; what _ I _ did I wo n't say . As I looked back to the scene of our danger , there was a most lovely rainbow spanning it , showing in the cloud of spray that rose above the breakers . ` At six o'clock on Christmas eve I landed at Lisbon , where I got comfortable quarters in an English boarding-house . When I can get to London , I do not yet know . I am here at a great time , to see history as it is taking shape in human life and experience ; something different from looking at it as cast into bronze or silver in former ages and packed up in a box of coins ; hey , Queen Esther ? But that 's good too in its way .