midnight
It was understood that he would never come back , and there was no more interest in him than there is in the dead . Like them , he had had his time of sojourn , and his place knew him no more . As for Liot , he was happy . He set his sails , and covered David more warmly , and then lay down under the midnight stars . The wind was at his back , and the lonely land of his birth passed from his eyes as a dream passes . In the morning the islands were not to be seen ; they were hidden by belts of phantom foam , wreathed and vexed with spray and spindrift . There was , fortunately , no wrath in the morning tide , only a steady , irresistible set to the westward ; and this was just what Liot desired .