seven o'clock
The two boats ahead of the strange craft were towing a square sail through the water by a line fastened to the middle of the same . From all four corners of this sail ran good stout ropes , which were made fast to the anchor cable of the bark . The two boats might tow this square through the water easily enough by that one line fastened to the middle , because the sail would then close and so slip easily through the water ; but so soon as the bark began to haul upon it from all four corners it spread out as though filled with wind , and so offered a vast resistance to the water . By this contrivance the bark was making headway at about the rate of a knot an hour against the current , so that by seven o'clock she was clear out beyond the cape and into the open water beyond . At that time the sun had not yet gone down , and the distant vessel stood out against the reddish-gray sky to the eastward , with all the cordage and the masts as sharp as so many hairs and straws in the red light of the setting sun . I was standing just under the poop-deck at the time , with the glass to my eye , when , of a sudden , I saw something black begin rising from the deck to the fore . There was not enough breeze going to spread it , but I knew as well as anything in all of my life that it was the `` Black Roger , '' and that the white that I could see among the folds was the wicked sign of the `` skull and crossbones , '' which those bloody and cruel wretches are pleased to adopt as the ensign of their trade .