nine o'clock
You just attend to that , an ' we 'll say no more about it . '' He turned back to his office . On the quay he paused to tell Tom Hancock that he reckoned the child would be more careful in future : he had given her something to think over . A week later , at nine o'clock , Elder Penno was retiring to rest in his bedroom , which overlooked his boat-building yard , when a clattering noise broke on the night without , and so startled him that he all but dropped his watch in the act of winding it . The noise suggested an avalanche of falling boxes . The Elder blew out his candle , lit a bull 's - eye lantern which he kept handy by his bed , and , throwing up the window , challenged loudly -- `` Who 's there ? '' For the moment the ray of the bull 's - eye revealed no one .