midnight
There was a grim vigilance in every movement of Dennis McNerney as he watched the now haggard-eyed Braun in the tank cell far below the decks , where Fashion 's children gaily chattered . Only a few gruff sentences had ever escaped the murderer on the long voyage , and only a horrible curse had answered the proposition of Atwater and McNerney that a full confession might , in some way , soften the brute 's impending doom . The room where Braun was confined was bare of all lethal implements with which he might effect a suicide , and two stalwart men were his room-mates . When the quartermasters , at midnight , peered out for the first glimpse of Fire Island light , Dennis McNerney , pacing the deserted deck , almost alone , revolved his plan of inspecting the sullen prisoner at intervals of every three hours during the night . `` It is a desperate human brute , that one , '' muttered the sturdy policeman ; `` but , I 've brought him safely home . '' While a wild coast storm raged , and the screaming gulls circled around the plunging ship ; while shrill winds moaned in the steel rigging , McNerney crept down for the last time before sighting land , at four o'clock , to peer through the grated door and see Fritz Braun lying prone -- a confused heap -- his coat rolled up as a pillow under his head . The wounded arm alone was free ; the other , shackled to a broad belt , was locked around the prisoner 's waist .