about ten at night
There followed on that a council of the officers , and some decision which I did not rightly understand , seeing only the result : that we had made a fair wind of a foul one and were running south . The tenth afternoon there was a falling swell and a thick , wet , white fog that hid one end of the brig from the other . All afternoon , when I went on deck , I saw men and officers listening hard over the bulwarks -- `` for breakers , '' they said ; and though I did not so much as understand the word , I felt danger in the air , and was excited . Maybe about ten at night , I was serving Mr. Riach and the captain at their supper , when the ship struck something with a great sound , and we heard voices singing out . My two masters leaped to their feet . `` She 's struck ! '' said Mr. Riach .