about six o'clock
`` We 're now , I fancy , pretty well back where we lay so long in the calm , although perhaps a trifle more to the eastwards ; but , if we run on much further , I 'm sure I do n't know where we 'll bring up ! '' There the conversation ended and I went off to sleep soon afterwards , although the creaking of the timbers and roar of the sea sounded terrific , making noise enough to drown the sound of everything else . I could n't hear a footstep on the deck above me -- all was hushed but the terrible turmoil of the elements . I got up about six o'clock . I knew the hour by striking a match and looking at a little watch my father had given me just before I left home ; for , it was all dark in the cabin , the ports and scuttles being closed and the dead-lights in the stern being up , while the doors in the bulkheads were drawn to , so as to keep out the sea from rushing in when a wave came over the forecastle . Opening one of the sliding panels with some difficulty and pushing it back far enough for my body to get through , I emerged on the main-deck , thence managed to scramble on the poop , where the captain and Mr Marline were standing as well as Jackson , all holding on to the rigging . None of the officers had turned in all night , but I noticed that none of the hands were visible except the men at the helm , the captain allowing the rest to keep snug in the forecastle until they were wanted , for heavy seas were washing over the rails every now and then or coming in from the bows and sweeping the ship fore and aft , so there was no use in exposing the men unnecessarily when there was nothing really for them to do , as was the case now -- no sail being set and only the wheel having to be attended to .