Twelve o'clock
As usual , `` taps '' were blown at ten o'clock and things on the island grew very quiet . Days -- yes , weeks -- seemed to crowd themselves into those long hours . Would he ever come ? Presently she heard the sentry 's shrill cry on the brow of the hill , `` Twelve o'clock ! All 's well ! '' The echo of his repeated call had scarcely died away when Marie thought she saw something dark on the water near the center of the channel , perhaps three miles away . She whispered to a member of the artillery corps , who sat near her watching the shadow of his pipe on the rock near the base of the cannon .