midnight
How different was Harry 's situation from what it would have been had his father procured for him a berth ; as it was , he was doomed to no common hardships , for the captain , having taken a dislike to him from the first , seemed to take pleasure in making him as uncomfortable as possible ; and had it not been that he was a favorite with the crew , he would have suffered many times from exposure . Many a cold , stormy night had he been ordered to take his turn in the watch , upon deck , in spite of the petitions of the men to fill his place ; and he would walk the deck for hours , to keep from becoming benumbed with the cold ; but , as his mother had predicted , the hardships and dangers to which he was exposed did not serve to dampen his spirits , and for that very reason , did the captain shower upon him many abuses ; for in spite of his cruel treatment toward him , he never had had the pleasure of seeing him look anything but cheerful . At such times , when the wind was howling fiercely , and the salt spray came dashing over the deck , freezing upon the cheek of the youthful mariner , but never penetrating that heart , which was warmed by the remembrance of other days , the boy would think of home , of his mother , and as he uttered the name of the Sea-flower aloud , those deep-toned voices of the sea would appear as if the wild reëchoings of the tone ; and the low moanings of the wind through the shrouds were of pity for that lone one on the deck of the `` outward bound . '' Could the boy have had old Nep for a companion in his midnight watchings , he would have served to while away the time , but that pleasure was not allowed him , for Captain Jostler had threatened to throw the dog overboard , if he came in contact with him in any of his walks ; consequently Harry had doomed him to a life in the hold , seldom venturing to visit him , except to carry the food which he had saved from his own short allowance ; and he often wondered how the poor fellow could keep alive on such short rations , not knowing of the purloined bits which were bestowed upon him from Sampson 's commodious jacket-sleeve . `` There she blows ! there she blows ! '' hailed the look-out from the mast-head , as a school of whales hove in sight , about three miles astern , one afternoon , when they had been four months on the whaling grounds .