about eleven o'clock
Pencroft , Gideon Spilett , and Herbert , greatly astonished , let him proceed . Their situation was truly serious , and the sailor had reason to fear that he was lost on the wide sea without any possibility of recovering his course . The night was dark and cold . However , about eleven o'clock , the wind fell , the sea went down , and the speed of the vessel , as she laboured less , greatly increased . Neither Pencroft , Spilett , nor Herbert thought of taking an hour 's sleep . They kept a sharp look-out , for either Lincoln Island could not be far distant and would be sighted at daybreak , or the _ Bonadventure _ , carried away by currents , had drifted so much that it would be impossible to rectify her course . Pencroft , uneasy to the last degree , yet did not despair , for he had a gallant heart , and grasping the tiller he anxiously endeavoured to pierce the darkness which surrounded them .