about four o'clock
The dinner was prolonged to an extent commensurate with its own inherent excellence and the capacity of the boys to appreciate it ; but at length , like all things mortal , it came to a termination , and the company went up once more to the deck . On looking round it was evident to all that a change had taken place . Four miles away lay Ile Haute , and eight or ten miles beyond this lay the long line of Nova Scotia . It was now about four o'clock , and the tide had been rising for three hours , and was flowing up rapidly , and in a full , strong current . As yet there was no wind , and the broad surface of the bay was quite smooth and unruffled . In the distance and far down the bay , where its waters joined the horizon , there was a kind of haze , that rendered the line of separation between sea and sky very indistinct . The coast of Nova Scotia was at once enlarged and obscured .