midnight
Captain Brand rapped his snuff-box , opened the diamond-crusted lid , took a dainty pinch , laid his cambric handkerchief over his kerseymere breeches , and resumed his narrative . `` So passed the days , _ caballeros _ ; and when , one morning , the high mountains back of Port Guantamano were reported to me , I felt a presentiment that my dream of bliss was drawing to a close . Indeed , I might probably have remained at sea a week or two longer , but the men were getting a little impatient , and I thought it better to sacrifice my own pleasure to theirs . That day we caught a cracking breeze out of the Windward Passage , and toward midnight we came up with this little sandy island here . `` The preparations for going into port excited the curiosity of my bride ; for , poor thing ! she believed we were bound into Porto Rico , and I had some trouble in inducing her to go below before we crossed the reef . _ Bueno !