midnight
And so through the night the growling continued , seeming to be mighty near unto us -- aye ! almost over our heads , and of a loudness far surpassing all that had come to us on the previous night ; so that I thanked the Almighty that we had come into shelter in the midst of so much fear . The Thing That Made Search Now at times , I fell upon sleep , as did most of the others ; but , for the most part , I lay half sleeping and half waking -- being unable to attain to true sleep by reason of the everlasting growling above us in the night , and the fear which it bred in me . Thus , it chanced that just after midnight , I caught a sound in the main cabin beyond the door , and immediately I was fully waked . I sat me up and listened , and so became aware that something was fumbling about the deck of the main cabin . At that , I got to my feet and made my way to where the bo ` sun lay , meaning to waken him , if he slept ; but he caught me by the ankle , as I stooped to shake him , and whispered to me to keep silence ; for he too had been aware of that strange noise of something fumbling beyond in the big cabin . In a little , we crept both of us so close to the door as the chests would allow , and there we crouched , listening ; but could not tell what manner of thing it might be which produced so strange a noise .