midnight
No one knew better than he the many perils which beset the drifting boat in these dangerous waters -- the perils of storm , the perils of fog , the perils of thick darkness , the perils of furious tides , the perils of sunken rocks , of shoals , and of iron-bound coasts . The boys had gone to sleep , but there was no sleep for him . He wandered restlessly about , and heavy sighs escaped him . Thus the time passed with him until near midnight . Then he roused the mate , and they raised the anchor and hoisted the sails . It was now the turn of tide , and the waters were falling again , and the current once more ran down the bay . To this current he trusted the vessel again , beating , as before , against the head wind , which was still blowing ; and thus the Antelope worked her way onward through all that dark and dismal night , until at last the faint streaks of light in the east proclaimed the dawn of another day .