half past two
The four guns , therefore , were rather too heavy a burden for the size of the cutters . But Christy was unwilling to throw the two without carriages overboard , for the water in this locality was so clear that they could have been seen at a depth of two or three fathoms . They were useless for the duty in which the expedition was engaged , and the commander of the expedition decided to land them on the Seahorse Key till he had completed his operations in the bay , when they could be taken off and transported to the Bronx as trophies , if for nothing better . Mr. Flint was disposed to object to this plan , on account of the time it would require ; but he yielded the point when Christy informed him that it was only half past two , as he learned from the repeater he carried for its usefulness on just such duty as the present expedition . The guns and all that belonged to them were landed on the Key , and the boats shoved off , the lieutenants happy in the thought that they were no longer embarrassed by their weight , while they could not be brought to bear upon them . The boats had hardly left the little island behind them when the noise of paddle wheels ahead was reported by one of the trio in the bow of the first cutter . Christy listened with all his ears , and immediately heard the peculiar sounds caused by the slapping of the paddle wheels of a steamer upon the water .