six in the
morning
Therefore , a coastwise schooner harbors only transients , for whom the fo ` cas ` le is merely a shelter between watches . But Mayo was a sailor , and the bare boards served him better than bedding in which some dusky and dirty son of Ham had nestled . He laid himself down and slept soundly . The second mate turned out the watch below at four bells -- six in the morning . The schooner was in the stream and all hands were needed to work hose and brooms and clear off the coal-dust . Mayo toiled in the wallow of black water till his muscles ached . There was one happy respite -- they knocked off long enough to eat breakfast .