four o'clock
Then she thought she heard the crowing of a cock and the cackle of hens , and fancied herself in her room at home ; the illusion passed with a pang . The ship was moving , with a tug at her side , the violent respirations of which were mingled with the sound of the swift rush of the vessels through the water , the noise of feet on the deck , and of orders hoarsely shouted . The girl came out into the cabin , where Thomas was already busy with the breakfast table , and climbed to the deck . It was four o'clock of the summer 's morning ; the sun had not yet reddened the east , but the stars were extinct , or glimmered faint points immeasurably withdrawn in the vast gray of the sky . At that hour there is a hovering dimness over all , but the light on things near at hand is wonderfully keen and clear , and the air has an intense yet delicate freshness that seems to breathe from the remotest spaces of the universe , -- a waft from distances beyond the sun . On the land the leaves and grass are soaked with dew ; the densely interwoven songs of the birds are like a fabric that you might see and touch . But here , save for the immediate noises on the ship , which had already left her anchorage far behind , the shouting of the tug 's escape-pipes , and the huge , swirling gushes from her powerful wheel , a sort of spectacular silence prevailed , and the sounds were like a part of this silence .