eight o'clock
laughed he , as with two or three powerful strokes he carried us right into the middle , of the stream . `` Trust an Oxford man for employing any arms but his own , when a pair of sculls are in question ! '' * * * * * It was just eight o'clock when we started , with the twilight coming on . Our course lay up the river , with a strong current setting against us ; so we made but little way , and enjoyed the tranquil beauty of the evening . The sky was pale and clear , somewhat greenish overhead and deepening along the line of the horizon into amber and rose . Behind us lay the town with every brown spire articulated against the sky and every vane glittering in the last glow that streamed up from the west .