noon
`` I did n't come to know it , I guessed it , '' said the dark man . At that moment the door opened , and a short thick-set man , in a glazed hat and pea-jacket , with huge whiskers meeting under his chin , entered . His eye at once fell upon the dark man , whom he saluted familiarly -- `` All ready , Mr Cupples ? '' `` All ready , sir , '' replied the other ; `` it 's now more than half-flood ; in three hours we can drop down the river with the first of the ebb , and if this breeze holds we 'll be in blue water before noon to-morrow . '' `` Hallo , doctor , is that yourself ? '' said the captain , whose eye had for some moments rested on Will . `` It is , '' said the youth , extending his hand , which the other grasped and shook warmly .