about three o'clock
I borrow a pea-coat of one of the crew , and in that practical disguise am doubtfully permitted to pass into one of the boats . We give way northerly . It is quite dark yet , although the rift of cloud has widened . It must have been about three o'clock , and we were lying upon our oars in an eddy formed by a clump of cottonwood , and the light of the steamer is a solitary bright star in the distance , when the silence is broken by the `` bow oar '' : -- `` Light ahead . '' All eyes are turned in that direction . In a few seconds a twinkling light appears , shines steadily , and again disappears , as if by the shifting position of some black object apparently drifting close upon us . `` Stern , all !