nearly midnight
To the naked eye nothing was visible but a dark bank of trees . Not a light was to be seen , although there were several houses in the vicinity . The position of Lymington , in time of peace discernible by reason of a strong blaze of light , could only be determined by the feeble glow of the high red light marking the course up the river . `` It 's nearly midnight , '' observed the skipper . `` If our friends the Germans are going to shift their supplies from here to Milford , they 'll have to be pretty sharp . Seems to me like a case of ` nuthin ' doing ' . '' Hardly were the words out of his mouth , when the silence was broken by a peremptory hail .