noon
` We will do it yet , ' he said to Mahon , fiercely . He shook his fist at the sky . Nobody else said a word . `` At noon the steamer began to tow . She went ahead slim and high , and what was left of the _ Judea _ followed at the end of seventy fathom of tow-rope , -- followed her swiftly like a cloud of smoke with mastheads protruding above . We went aloft to furl the sails . We coughed on the yards , and were careful about the bunts .