twelve
o’clock
I told him I would do that or any thing else he bid me , confident he would never ask me to do a wrong thing ; and as to the lady , I should be proud to help to carry her off to old England and her lawful friends , only I thought -LRB- if I might be so bold -RRB- it was a pity she was not young and handsome , for his sake . At that he smiled , and only said , ` Perhaps it was best for him as it was . ' Then he settled about the boat , and who were to go , and when . It was twelve o'clock striking by the great town clock when we were under the walls of the convent , as appointed . And all was hush and silent as the grave for our very lives . For it was a matter of life or death , I promise you , and we all knew as much , and the sailors had a dread of the Inquisition upon them that was beyond all terrible ! So we watched and waited , and waited and watched so long , that we thought something must have gone wrong , or that all was found out , and the captain could not delay the ship 's sailing ; and he struck his repeater , and it was within a quarter of one , and he said , ` It is too late ; we must put back . '