midnight
Get aloft , comrade , and keep a good look-out . '' So I went up very sadly . And presently from my high perch I heard the running of a cord and the splash of oars , and saw , on the pale water below me , a black shadow glide out from the ship 's side , and lose itself in the darkness . It may have been near midnight on that Sunday night when I went aloft to the main-tops . The sea was still running high , and it was all I could do , in the drizzling rain and wild wind , to hold on to my perch . Now and then a wild gull , terrified by the invasion of its peace , whirled past me , and shrieked away seaward . Once , with a swish and dull boom behind it , a shot passed below me ; and once or twice a quiver up the tall mast told me the _ Rata 's _ guns were at work .