noon
The women did n't scream , but stood around trembling and with blanched faces . Nobody said a word , but each waited for his neighbor to speak . We felt that we might be looking on our graves . `` The captain told us at noon that he thought he had the water under control and was in hopes of drifting in the way of some passing vessel . The ship 's bow was now high in the air , while the stern seemed to settle more and more . There was no storm , but the sea , was very rough , and the ship rolled from side to side with fearful lurches . I think that if she had pitched at all the overstrained , bulkheads would have burst and we should have gone to the bottom .