about two o'clock
The days had grown hotter , the nights closer , and the air between decks was stifling when the sea rolled high and closed the ports . Officers had taken to snoozing up on deck in steamer chairs . By an unwritten law the port side of the promenade deck was given up to them after eleven at night ; but the women folk had the run of the starboard side at any hour when the crew were not washing down decks . Armstrong had been far forward about two o'clock one breathless night to see for himself the condition of things in the hospital under the forecastle . The main deck was crowded with sleeping forms of soldiers who found it impossible to stand the heat below ; so on his return , instead of continuing along the gangway , he decided to climb the iron ladder from the main to the promenade deck . It would land him at the forward end on the starboard side . There he could smoke a cigar in peace and quiet .