twelve o'clock
`` If I 'd been there , '' he said , `` I should have looked for a crack in that floor . '' When the brig weighed anchor , she did not set out for the open sea , but proceeded back to the Rackbirds ' cove , where she anchored again . Before setting out , the next day , on his voyage to France , the captain wished to take on board a supply of fresh water . That night George Burke went off his watch at twelve o'clock , and a few minutes after he had been relieved , he did something he had never done before -- he deserted his ship . With his shoes and a little bundle of clothes on his head , he very quietly slipped down a line he had fastened astern . It was a very dark night , and he reached the water unseen , and as quietly as if he had been an otter going fishing . First swimming , and then wading , he reached the shore .