midnight
The loose spars detached from the masts were hauled up lengthwise along the bulwarks on the inner side of the poop , where they were lashed securely so as to form a sort of shelf ; and , on this , all hands now settled themselves as comfortably as they could -- Captain Miles with Mr Marline and myself being on the after part of the structure , while Jackson with the others bunked down nearer the break of the poop ; but , each man was separately tied , for greater precaution , in case of the sea getting up again and the waves breaking over the vessel . While we had been moving about exerting ourselves , the sense of hunger had not been so apparent , although all experienced its gnawing pain in a greater or less degree ; but now , resting quietly , doing nothing and having to bear all the suspense of waiting for what might turn out possibly to be only an uncertainty on the morrow , the ravenous feeling that assailed us became almost unbearable , several of the men moaning and groaning in their sleep . As for myself , I know that when I dozed off in fragmentary snatches of sleep I dreamed of all sorts of splendid banquets , with nice dishes such as I had often tasted in the West Indies when dad gave a dinner-party ; only to waken up in the still darkness and hear the melancholy wash of the sea surging up against the ship 's hull , with the creaking noise the masts made as they surged to and fro on the swell . Up to midnight , as far as we could tell the time , no breeze came ; but , towards morning , a slight wind arose , when the sea became agitated , as we could hear from the sound of it breaking over the hull forwards , the ends of the masts worked to and fro more boisterously , grinding against the starboard bulwarks and tearing the timbers away bit by bit . `` Ah ! '' I heard Captain Miles say , as if talking to himself , `` this is our chance if it only does not get too rough . '' The sound of his voice woke up Gottlieb , the remaining German sailor , who was lying near Jake , the latter being next me as usual .