four o'clock
The soldiers who were now without any one to command them , for those who had forced their way to the western side of the rock , finding that advance or retreat was alike impossible , crawled under the sides of the precipice to retreat from a murderous fire which they could not return . The others were scattered here and there , protecting themselves as well as they could below the masses of stone , and returning the fire of the conspirators surely and desperately . But of the hundred men sent on the expedition , there were not twenty who were not killed or wounded , and nearly the whole detachment of seamen had fallen where they stood . It was then four o'clock , the few men who remained unhurt were suffering from the extreme heat and exertion , and devoured with thirst . The wounded cried for water . The sea was still , calm , and smooth as a mirror ; not a breath of wind blew to cool the fevered brows of the wounded men , and the cutter , with her sails hanging listless , floated about on the glassy water , about a quarter of a mile from the beach . `` Now is our time , Sir Robert . ''