noon
Then came long hours of patient -- I should say impatient -- crawling along over the same course as we had followed the previous day , with no sail in sight but the big junk , which took not the slightest notice of us , nor we of it . There was no doubt whatever , though , of her actions . She kept sailing on at about the same rate as we steamed , evidently for the sake of being in company , and to have a European vessel close at hand to close up to in case of danger from the shores of the mainland , or one of the islands we should pass , for it was an established fact that the pirates seldom attacked ships that were in company . All through the early part of the morning the novelty of the affair interested the men , and there was a constant burst of eager conversation going on , but as noon came , and matters were in the same position , and we still far away from the spot where the barque had been burned , every one grew weary , and I fidgeted myself into a state of perspiration . `` It will all turn out wrong , '' I thought , `` and then they will blame me . '' With these fancies to worry me , I kept away from my messmates as much as I could ; and when by accident I encountered either of my superiors , I saw that they looked -- or I fancied they did -- very stern . `` All these preparations for nothing , '' I said to myself , as I saw the guns all ready , but covered over with tarpaulins , cartridges and shells waiting , and the crews armed and impatient .