about midnight
The three poor little things , knowing that he was in one of the ships , had been often out and anxious , and they were then sitting under the lea of a headstone , near their mother 's grave , chittering and creeping closer and closer at every squall . Never was such an orphan-like sight seen . When it began to be so dark that the vessels could no longer be discerned from the churchyard , many went down to the shore , and I took the three babies home with me , and Mrs Pawkie made tea for them , and they soon began to play with our own younger children , in blythe forgetfulness of the storm ; every now and then , however , the eldest of them , when the shutters rattled and the lum-head roared , would pause in his innocent daffing , and cower in towards Mrs Pawkie , as if he was daunted and dismayed by something he knew not what . Many a one that night walked the sounding shore in sorrow , and fires were lighted along it to a great extent ; but the darkness and the noise of the raging deep , and the howling wind , never intermitted till about midnight : at which time a message was brought to me , that it might be needful to send a guard of soldiers to the beach , for that broken masts and tackle had come in , and that surely some of the barks had perished . I lost no time in obeying this suggestion , which was made to me by one of the owners of the Louping Meg ; and to show that I sincerely sympathized with all those in affliction , I rose and dressed myself , and went down to the shore , where I directed several old boats to be drawn up by the fires , and blankets to be brought , and cordials prepared , for them that might be spared with life to reach the land ; and I walked the beach with the mourners till the morning . As the day dawned , the wind began to abate in its violence , and to wear away from the sou-west into the norit , but it was soon discovered that some of the vessels with the corn had perished ; for the first thing seen , was a long fringe of tangle and grain along the line of the highwater mark , and every one strained with greedy and grieved eyes , as the daylight brightened , to discover which had suffered . But I can proceed no further with the dismal recital of that doleful morning .