nearly midday before
`` Think I could get back to-night ? '' `` Yes , by after dark . '' `` Let 's get right away , then . '' But other calls delayed us , and it was nearly midday before we started for the cape . Unfortunately , the wind veered as the sun sank , and `` headed '' us continually . The northern current was running strong , and it was just `` duckish '' when at last we entered the creek . The former glories of Deep-Water Creek have passed away .