nine o'clock at night
By and by the night air grew chill . Peter slipped from the rock and went up the beach and came back with an Indian blanket . He put it very carefully around Linda 's shoulders , and when he went to resume his seat beside her he found one of her arms stretching it with a blanket corner for him . So he sat down beside her and drew the corner over his shoulder ; and because his right arm was very much in his way , and it would have been very disagreeable if Linda had slipped from the rock and fallen into the cold , salt , unsympathetic Pacific at nine o'clock at night -- merely to dispose of the arm comfortably and to ensure her security , Peter put it around Linda and drew her up beside him very close . Linda did not seem to notice . She sat quietly looking at the Pacific and thinking her own thoughts . When the fog became damp and chill , she said they must be going , and so they went back to their cars and drove home through the sheer wonder of the moonlight , through the perfume of the orange orchards , hearing the night song of the mockingbirds .