four
o'clock
Scudding clouds were seen flitting across the sky , from which there descended now and then misty showers of rain . These clouds gradually became more frequent and more dense , until at length the whole eastern sky was involved in one dense mass of threatening vapor . It began to grow dark , too . The specified time for sailing was four o'clock ; but there was a delay for the mails , and it was full half past four before the steamer had left the pier . And now , before she began to draw near the French coast , it was nearly half past six . At length the coast began slowly to appear . Its outline was dimly discerned among the misty clouds .