nearly midnight
I wish she would get caught in one of them . '' `` Not while she has that mysterious packet on board , '' smiled Ned . `` We have traveled a long way to get that . '' No more submarine explosions came , and the boys sat on the dark conning tower until nearly midnight , watching the people on the Shark flying about , evidently laboring under great excitement . The diver had not returned . The machinery was evidently out of order and the Shark might as well have tied to the bottom for all the speed she could make . `` I 'm afraid some ship friendly to these pirates will come along , '' Ned said , after a long silence .