midnight
`` Good advice , or rather command , Dave , '' said Robert , `` and we 'll obey it . '' Their quarters were narrow , because sloops plying on the river in those days were not large , but the three who slept so often in the forest were not seekers after luxury . Robert undressed , crept into his bunk , which was not over two feet wide , and slept soundly until morning . After midnight the violence of the storm abated . It was still snowing , but Captain Van Zouten unfurled his sails , made for the middle of the river , and , when the sun came up over the eastern hills , the sloop was tearing along at a great rate for New York . So when Robert awoke and heard the groaning of timbers and the creak of cordage he knew at once that they were under way and he was glad . The events of the night before passed rapidly through his mind , but they seemed vague and indistinct .