twelve o'clock
Captain Willoughby did not know it , while speaking , but , at that moment , quite two miles of the lower , or southern end of the lake , was clear , and the opening giving a sweep to the breeze , the latter was already driving the sheets of ice before it , towards the head , at a rate of quite a mile in the hour . Just then , an Irishman , named Michael O'Hearn , who had recently arrived in America , and whom the captain had hired as a servant of all work , came rushing up to his master , and opened his teeming thoughts , with an earnestness of manner , and a confusion of rhetoric , that were equally characteristic of the man and of a portion of his nation . `` Is it journeying south , or to the other end of this bit of wather , or ice , that yer honour is thinking of ? '' he cried `` Well , and there 'll be room for us all , and to spare ; for divil a bir-r-d will be left in that quarter by night , or forenent twelve o'clock either , calculating by the clock , if one had such a thing ; as a body might say . '' As this was said not only vehemently , but with an accent that defies imitation with the pen , Mrs. Willoughby was quite at a loss to get a clue to the idea ; but , her husband , more accustomed to men of Mike 's class , was sufficiently lucky to comprehend what he was at . `` You mean the pigeons , Mike , I suppose , '' the captain answered , good - humouredly . `` There are certainly a goodly number of them ; and I dare say our hunters will bring us in some , for dinner .