eight o'clock
But , after all , the late arrivals were useful in their way , and their wives , who came along later , were still more useful . The men were fertile in suggestions for tempting and practicable breakfasts ; and the women actually brought the food along ; and by the time that the world was well alight , the early risers were bustling about and serving coffee and tea , and biscuits and fruit , and keeping up that semblance of activity and employment that alone can carry poor humanity through long periods of suspense and anxiety . And the first on the field were the last to eat and the least critical of their fare . It was eight o'clock when the first party of searchers returned to the hill . There were eight of them . They stopped a little below the crib and beckoned to Penrhyn to come down to them . He went , white-faced and a little unsteady on his feet ; his guardians followed him and joined with the group in a busy serious talk that lasted perhaps five minutes -- but vastly longer to the women who watched them from above .