midnight
They agreed , however , that instantly on his decease they would take possession of it , note the particulars , seal it up , and carry it to Mrs. Dodd , with such comfort as they could hope to give her by relating the gallant act in which his precious life was lost . At 9 P.M. the surgeon took his place by Dodd 's bedside ; and the pair , whom one thing after another had drawn so close together , retired to Kenealy 's cabin . Many a merry chat they had had there , and many a gaseonade , being rival hunters ; but now they were together for physical companionship in sorrow rather than for conversation . They smoked their cigars in moody silence , and at midnight shook hands with a sigh and parted . That sigh meant to say that in the morning all would be over . They turned in ; but , ere either of them was asleep , suddenly the captain 's cabin seemed to fill with roars and shrieks of wild beasts , that made the whole ship ring in the silent night The savage cries were answered on deck by shouts of dismay and many pattering feet making for the companion ladder ; but the nearest persons to the cabin , and the first to reach it , were Kenealy and Fullalove , who burst in , the former with a drawn sword , the latter with a revolver , both in their nightgowns ; and there saw a sight that took their breath away . The surgeon was not there ; and two black men , one with a knife , and one with his bare claws , were fighting and struggling and trampling all over the cabin at once , and the dying man sitting up in his cot , pale , and glaring at them .