seven o’clock
I dragged my watch from its fob . It was not going . I glanced at its face by the moonlight , and then burst into tears as I flung it far away into the ocean . _ It had run down at seven o'clock ! We were behind the time of the slack , and the whirl of the Ström was in full fury ! _ `` When a boat is well built , properly trimmed , and not deep laden , the waves in a strong gale , when she is going large , seem always to slip from beneath her -- which appears very strange to a landsman -- and this is what is called _ riding _ , in sea phrase . Well , so far we had ridden the swells very cleverly ; but presently a gigantic sea happened to take us right under the counter , and bore us with it as it rose -- up -- up -- as if into the sky .