About eleven o'clock
At least that was what the latter told Marcy ; and , while he talked , he jingled some keys in his pocket with as much apparent satisfaction as though they were the dollars he hoped to put there in a few days more . But the old saying that there is many a slip came very near holding true in Beardsley 's case . The latter was so certain that he had left all danger behind him , and that he had nothing more to do but sail in at his leisure and land his cargo when he got ready , that he did not think it worth while to man the crosstrees after nightfall ; consequently there was no watchful lookout to warn him of the suspicious looking object that moved slowly out of the darkness a mile or so ahead , and waited for him to come up . About eleven o'clock Marcy Gray strolled forward and climbed out upon the bowsprit to see if he could discover any signs of the land , which , according to his calculations , ought not to be far distant . `` I might as well be out here as anywhere else , '' he thought , pulling out the night-glass , which he had taken the precaution to bring with him . `` Of course the skipper will run her through without any aid from me , as he did before , and so -- what in the world is that ? Looks like a smooth round rock ; but I know it is n't , for there 's nothing of that sort about this Inlet . ''