About three o'clock in the morning
The waves roared and dashed on the cliff below , and a strong wind was blowing from the west . `` It looks as if a storm were coming , '' said Nyoda in a low tone . The night was wearing away fast and the girls knew that it was safer to escape under cover of darkness . About three o'clock in the morning the storm broke , a terrific thunder shower . The tower swayed in the wind and at each crash they held their breath , thinking that the house had been struck . The spray from the waves as they were flung against the rocks often came in through the open window . Both girls looked down into the boiling sea beneath them and drew back with a shudder .