about seven o'clock
, went up through the village , climbed the down , and were at the brow by sunset . We had started earlier than we fixed the night before , because word had come to Elzevir that morning that the tide called Gulder would serve for the beaching of the _ Bonaventure _ at three instead of five . 'T is a strange thing the Gulder , and not even sailors can count closely with it ; for on the Dorset coast the tide makes four times a day , twice with the common flow , and twice with the Gulder , and this last being shifty and uncertain as to time , flings out many a sea-reckoning . It was about seven o'clock when we were at the top of the hill , and there were fifteen good miles to cover to get to Hoar Head . Dusk was upon us before we had walked half an hour ; but when the night fell , it was not black as on the last evening , but a deep sort of blue , and the heat of the day did not die with the sun , but left the air still warm and balmy . We trudged on in silence , and were glad enough when we saw by a white stone here and there at the side of the path that we were nearing the cliff ; for the Preventive men mark all the footpaths on the cliff with whitewashed stones , so that one can pick up the way without risk on a dark night . A few minutes more , and we reached a broad piece of open sward , which I knew for the top of Hoar Head .