midnight
Luther Davis had been commandant at the life-saving station for years and `` Number One Man '' before that , so his experience with wrecks and disabled craft of all kinds had been long and varied . He told them of disasters the details of which had been telegraphed all over the country , and of rescues of half-frozen crews from ice-crested schooners whose signals of distress had been seen from the observatory on the roof of the station . He told of long rows in midwinter through seas the spray of which turned to ice as they struck , and froze the men 's mittens to the oar-handles . He told of picking up draggled corpses in the surf at midnight , when , as he said , `` You could n't tell whether 't was a man or a roll of seaweed , and the only way to make sure was to reach down and feel . '' Captain Eri left them after a while , as he had some acquaintances among the men at the station , and wished to talk with them . Miss Davis remembered that she had not fed the chickens , and hurried away to perform that humane duty , gallantly escorted by Captain Perez . The Captain , by the way , was apparently much taken with the plump spinster and , although usually rather bashful where ladies were concerned , had managed to keep up a sort of side conversation with Miss Patience while the storytelling was going on .