four in the afternoon
`` You see , sir , '' he said , `` we may fall in with peasants , or be challenged by sentries , as we approach the battery , and my ability to speak Spanish might be an advantage . '' `` It would , undoubtedly , '' the captain said . `` Well , Mr. Repton , I shall be very glad to accept your services . '' At four in the afternoon , the frigate 's head was again turned west and , at ten o'clock , the boats for the landing party were lowered and , the men taking their places in them , rowed away for the shore , which was some two miles distant . The night was dark ; but Mr. Lyons had with him a pocket compass and had , before embarking , taken the exact bearings of the battery , from the spot where they would land . He was therefore able to shape his course to a point half a mile in its rear . The strictest silence had been enjoined , and the little body of sailors made their way inland , until they came upon a road running parallel with the shore .