nine o'clock at night
When the boat returned , the clerk was sent for , and desired by Mr W -- to make out Mr Aveleyn 's discharge , as the officers and midshipmen thought -LRB- for Mr W -- had kept his secret -RRB- , for his disobedient conduct . The poor boy , who thought all his prospects blighted , was sent on shore , the tears running down his cheeks , as much from the applause and kind farewells of his shipmates , as from the idea of the degradation which he underwent . Now , the real culprit was young Malcolm , who , to oblige the captain , had taken his station at the foretop-gallant mast-head , because the dog `` Ponto '' thought proper to cut off his own tail . The first lieutenant , in his own woe , forgot that of others ; and it was not until past nine o'clock at night that Malcolm , who thought that he had stayed up quite long enough , ventured below , when he was informed of what had taken place . The youngster immediately penned a letter to the captain , acknowledging that he was the offender , and requesting that Mr Aveleyn might not be discharged from the service ; he also ventured to add a postscript , begging that the same lenity might be extended towards himself ; which letter was sent on shore by the captain 's gig , when it left the ship the next morning , and was received by Captain L -- at the very same time that young Aveleyn , who had not been sent on shore till late in the evening , called upon the captain to request a reprieve from his hard sentence . The boy sent up his name and was immediately admitted . `` I presume you know why you are discharged from the service ? ''