midnight
He was not given to words , was Captain York , and the men knew him as `` The Silent Skipper '' ; but twenty-four hours without wind enough to `` blow a bug , '' as he put it , was too much for any man 's temper . `` I tell you what , sir , '' he said , sweeping the horizon with his glass for the tenth time in ten minutes , `` this American of yours has taken the breeze in his pocket , and may it blow him to -- I beg your pardon , I did not see that the young lady had joined us . '' But Mary was there , fresh as a rose dipped in dew , and as Roderick followed her up the companion ladder , we held a consultation , the fifth since we left Calais . `` It 's my opinion , '' said Roderick , `` that if those men of yours had not been ashore on leave , York , and we could have sailed at midnight , we should have done the business and been in Paris again by this time . '' `` It 's my opinion , sir , that your opinion is not worth a cockroach , '' cried the captain quite testily ; `` the men have nothing to do with it . Look above ; if you 'll show me how to move this ship without a hatful of wind , I 'll do it , sir , '' and he strutted off to breakfast , leaving us with Dan , the forward look-out . Dan was a grand old seaman , and there was n't one of us who did n't appeal to him in our difficulties .