four o'clock
in the morning
The difference of price , as stated in Spanish coinage , between a bottle of claret and a whisky-and-soda , might have puzzled some people ; but Dunbar worked it out to a fraction in a second of time , and without a moment 's hesitation laid his own share of the expense on the luncheon-table of the Braganza hotel . He spoke Spanish better than he spoke English , though he thought he had got rid of his Scottish accent ; but he still said ` I mind ' for ` I remember , ' and differentiated in the matter of pronouncing ` court ' and ` caught . ' At St. Vincent Peter wrote home again , and felt a certain sense of insecurity at leaving letters on the rocky island . It was four o'clock in the morning when the ship got into port , and the sun was rising over the hills eastward , while to the west the bare , rugged , mountainous land was a solemn , chilly grey colour . The water was smooth and dark beneath the hills , but nearer the ship it was touched by the clear pale light of the rising sun . The hills rose jagged and sharp against the sky without a scrap of verdure on them ; but the kindly atmosphere turned those in the distance to a soft and tender blue . It smoothed away the rugged lines and effaced the cruel-looking scars that seamed their sides , and covered them with a misty peace .